Trayces offers an intimate and confronting view of Black identity, history and lineage
Author: Hilary Creamer
Posted on Feb 2, 2026
Category: UNB Fredericton
The exhibition invites viewers into a powerful encounter with Black identity and lineage, as Gary Weekes’ portraits, set against fire-scarred baking trays, confront, connect and reveal the soul through subjects’ gazes.
Artist and photographer Gary Weekes ensconced the subjects of his latest exhibition inside a ten-foot-tall tent of translucent fabric to capture the often-illusive moment when a subject’s eyes train directly into the lens, offering what he describes as “a view into the soul.”
“I didn’t know if I’d get it from each sitter, but I got it from everyone. The way they are unapologetically looking at you, it is confronting,” said Weekes, whose exhibition Trayces, opened to the public at the University of New Brunswick’s Art Centre on Jan. 23.
Weekes’ work explores beauty, history and heritage through 13 portraits of individuals who differ in age, background and lived experience.
“I associate the trays’ blackened and scarred patina with the diaspora. Through this, I see skin colour and scarification. I see subjects’ unapologetic gazes and individual stories.”
The artist eschewed the traditional white paper on which portraits are typically printed and opted to back the images—which are set in clear acrylic—upon the patina of scratched and toned, heat-worn commercial aluminum baking trays.
This effect creates a visceral and profound representation of the beauty and diversity of skin colour found within the Black diaspora. The scratches represent the West African process of scarification and because of their use, also represents the horrors of the Black experience in the Antebellum South.
“The patina of the trays were made in fire and constant heat. They symbolize the atrocities that happened in the southern United States. Lynched bodies were further desecrated by being tossed into fire puts and subsequently dissected to be taken home as souvenirs. The trays conjured this image to me,” Weekes said.
Some of the images bring Weekes to tears.
“They have a look I’m familiar with,” he said.
His hope is that those who view the exhibit will also find connection with some of the portraits.
“It’s not for me to tell the viewer what to take away, but to view them is to see through my eyes, and through the eyes of each subject,” said Weekes.
“Viewers will either take something away based on their life experiences or not. They can look deeper, or they can choose to look away.”
Trayces runs through March 27 at the UNB Art Centre. On Feb. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m., Weekes will deliver at Artist Talk covering the inspiration behind and making of Trayces.
The exhibition is shown alongside Rediscovering the Roots of Black New Brunswickers, the centre’s annual exhibit honouring notable Black New Brunswickers.