walking with

Michael Jevon Demps

Lily Cox-Richard

Library of Radical Returns

This work is made in response to and with materials from our walks along the James River in Richmond, Virginia. There is an intersection of paths on the south bank, where the Richmond Slave Trail emerges from the woods, passes under i-95, traverses an access road to the waste treatment plant and cuts through the city’s massive flood wall.

This site is fortified by cascades of riprap-loose, chaotic rocks used to shore up the built environment. Still, the river overflows with histories that have been intentionally submerged. What will become of their traces when the river subsumes this bank, the sharp edges of the mined granite worn smooth like river stone? What kind of industrial slurry will flow through the James to polish and make them shine? When these shores were stabilized with boulders cut from nearby quarries, who was aware of the power of their minerals-unakite, quartz-to heal? How do we hold space for the recuperative potential of ubiquitous chunks of gravel, when the process and practice of mining and extraction are themselves aligned with colonization and slavery?

The river energizes our spirit, and these stones fortify us, too. Grounding our attention, they point us to the metal torches that line the slave trail and prompt us to ask why we have never seen them lit. Through tangled intersections of verdent riverbanks and overbearing infrastructure, we are walking with ancestors while being mindful as ancestors of future generations. With urgency and wonder, this work considers what we can carry together and how.

List of Works:

Rapids

river water, silt, grit, riprap, bits of hand-pressed local clay, motors, hardware, acrylic barrels

We are thinking backward and forward to consider time on different scales: geological, generational, flickering. How might river stones from the future, made by accelerated turmoil, give us the perspective to better understand Richmond, Virginia right now?

Live Stream of Streams

video aggregate of river moments

What does it mean to be soothed by a river that flows with histories of trauma? What does it mean to have never considered this question?

Portals

collaged prints made with rock tumbling slurry, drawings made on site

Energetic charge is possible and real.

Residuals

fabric, clay, graphite, rebar, magnets, tumbled slag

These bedsheets know the tenderness of caressing rocks and river banks, of milking clay through fibers. They trace presences of bodies and bounties.

Holding Spaces

driftwood, rocks, concrete, candles, offerings

Creating spaces to hold objects, in the hopes that they can hold us too, we wonder: How do we hold a space for healing in the midst of legacies of exploitation, extraction, and oppression?

Acknowledgements:

The river that we call James has many other names. We acknowledge the Indigenous people, including the Powhatan Confederacy and other tribes, on whose land we live and work. We extend our respect and gratitude to the river and its many stewards - past, present, and future.

Our hearts brim with love for our co-conspirators: Christina Sadovnikov, Toni Sheffield, Joy McMillian and Library of Radical Returns. Many thanks to our creative community, too many to name, with big shout-outs to Siemon Allen, Jesse Burrows, Amber Esseiva, Joe Gindhart, Alex Goss, Brooke Inman, Tyler JH, Ginny Kollak, Chris Mohanski, Lea Marshall, Margaret Meehan, Melissa Messina, Enjoli Moon, Sharad Patel, Noah Simblist, Wes Taylor, Elizabeth Webb and the whole VisArts team.

In addition to the generous support from VisArts, walking with is made with funding from the VMFA Fellowship, VCUarts Adjunct Faculty Grant and VCU Arts Research Institute.

Thank you to everyone walking with us.

Press:

VisArts Richmond – How Artists Are Using Nature to Grapple with Richmond’s Tragic History, Artistic Fuel, December 5, 2019

Karen Newton, River Walks, Style Weekly, January 7, 2020