Arabel Lebrusan

Produced during Arabel Lebrusan’s MA in Sculpture at RCA, Coal Measures explores the UK’s coal mining industry through the lens of ecofeminism, ecological grief, and social history.

Over the course of a year, the artist carved coal, mined geological maps for inspiration, and researched the history and disasters of coal mining in the UK. She delved into the Aberfan disaster of 1966, where tragedy struck, and examined the proposed coal mine in Whitehaven, Cumbria, an area already controversial due to its decommissioned nuclear plant. Both locations are deeply intertwined with social identities shaped by coal mining. Lebrusan travelled to the valleys of South Wales, climbing spoil tips scattered throughout the landscape. She collected mining residues – rusting railings, disintegrating steel wires and coal – that subsequently found their way into the artworks. These fragments serve as tangible connections to the landscapes and histories Lebrusan seeks to explore.

Engaging with local activists from Friends of the Earth and the international conversations from the London Mining Network has expanded the artist’s understanding of Feminist Political Ecology. It enabled her to draw connections between distant lands and bodies, from the children losing their lives to coal mines in East Kalimantan, Indonesia to the primary school children killed in the Aberfan disaster over half a century ago.

“I view these bodies, both human and more than human, as vessels for stories that must be told and grieved with as tragedies continue to unfold.”