Gallery Guide

Library of Radical Returns website

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.

Holding Spaces 1, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
driftwood, rocks, concrete, candles, offerings

Holding Spaces 2, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
driftwood, rocks, concrete, candles, offerings

Holding Spaces 3, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
driftwood, rocks, concrete, candles, offerings

Portal 1, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
collaged prints made with rock tumbling slurry, drawings made on site

Portal 2,Library of Radical Returns, 2019
collaged prints made with rock tumbling slurry, drawings made on site

Portal 3, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
collaged prints made with rock tumbling slurry, drawings made on site

Portal 4, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
collaged prints made with rock tumbling slurry, drawings made on site

Portal 5, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
collaged prints made with rock tumbling slurry, drawings made on site

Portal 6, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
collaged prints made with rock tumbling slurry, drawings made on site

Portal 7, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
collaged prints made with rock tumbling slurry, drawings made on site

Residuals 1, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
fabric, clay, graphite, rebar, magnets, tumbled slag

Residuals 2, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
fabric, clay, graphite, rebar, magnets, tumbled slag

Residuals 3, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
fabric, clay, graphite, rebar, magnets, tumbled slag

Residuals 4,Library of Radical Returns, 2019
fabric, clay, graphite, rebar, magnets, tumbled slag

Rapids, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
river water, silt, grit, riprap, bits of hand-pressed local clay, motors, hardware, acrylic barrels

Woundwood, Lily Cox-Richard, 2018
silicone, epoxy putty, bark, mixed media; 9 x 46 x 81 in.

Old Copper Futures: 951 lbs. of #2 scrap copper from Revolution Recovery, New Castle, DE, Lily Cox-Richard, 2016
copper, concrete, blanket; 42 x 26 x 39 in.

WAVES: ASK AND LET GO, Michael Jevon Demps, 2019
wood, glass, paper, steel, foam, graphite, candle wax and bricks; 36 x 22 x 9 in.

Live Stream of Streams, Library of Radical Returns, 2019
projected video aggregate of river moments

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.

Photography by David Hale