Sculpture
Coal Slurry Dear
James Powers
Coal Slurry Dear
Mantle Sculpture
Mixed media
This is a real taxidermic buck, mounted by Powers' brother. Powers told me his brother did a shotty DIY job and gave it to him. Powers soaks it in an unknown goo, and truthfully I wouldn't be surprised if he actually dipped the mount into a coal slurry pit, which is prevalent in McDowell County, West Virginia. The mount carries a collage of local newspapers reporting on the environmental impact mountaintop removal and the coal industry have had on the land, and on how that has directly impinged on people's fundamental rights to clean water, plumbing, and schooling.
Powers works as both painter and materialist, allowing found objects to carry their own histories. Bone, metal, and wood are left visibly aged, scarred, and altered by time. The piece balances unease with reverence, suggesting themes of land use, memory, survival, and what is left behind in Appalachia.
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