Lori Brook Johnson: Artist Statement

My work is deeply tied to and inspired by my Appalachian roots and complexities. I am at once a coal miner’s daughter and a forever child of a single mother. Our lives have been hurdled and spaced by life-changing gifts, connection, and deep loss. We are individually, specifically, and collectively impacted by the coal mining industry. And from this place I discover and uncover, face and breathe into, hold anger and heal from the long-term generational consequences of exploitative labor practices. I draw to hold space and discover the vast realities of something that I have specificity with.

I draw as much for the sound as for the visual impact; the slow and quick beat of marks are a lullaby—a song for the mountains that long to survive, and to those of us impacted by Chemical Valley and black lung. The soft building percussion of texture nurtures the neglected, and the pattern of plants and their breathing shadows reveals the strength of slow surfacing pain, of resilience, of growth, and our right to quality of life. I draw into the healing grace of holding hands with grief and change. I draw as an act, as an immediate witness to growing up through the character and individuality of a place often mislabeled, misused and misunderstood. 

Each drawing discovers, remembers, learns from, and leans into the unfeigned lived experiences of coal region communities and Appalachian workers. The drawings use the rhythm and routine of mark-making as a witness to healing and loving care, and are a life-long endeavor to learn and not to lecture. Mistakes will be made along the way and learned from in the next drawing.

The work is composed from an amalgamation of personal and archival photographs, memories, current connections, love, and need. In turn, routine and rhythmic marks create space for the subjects, the companions, to emerge naturally as much more than one portion of their lives thereby revealing a nearly concealed heart.