Lori Brook Johnson

Appalachian Drawings

I draw with a pencil and a knife to depict figures impacted by exploitative labor practices. Using dry and wet drawing materials, the work is entangled with and reconciled to the questions: what do we owe to each other’s stories and how does the past work itself out in the living? I use a layered process often combining dry and wet media with hand-cut paper. I choose these materials due to their capabilities that extend beyond visual art during the drawing process; the rhythmic beat of drawing marks becomes a percussive hum, a soother of nerves, while the labor of cutting paper by hand is a witness to loving care and acts as a living prayer: “Please, to whomever, may hard work lead directly to nourishment.”

I draw about Appalachian workers and our stories.

Please visit my About page to learn more.

Contact: LoriBrookJohnson@gmail.com