Boris Johnson expressed his support for a new coal mine in the North of England. The UK will host the Cop26 UN climate summit in Glasgow in November…
Woodhouse colliery would be the first new deep coalmine in the UK for three decades.
This decision is truly the a terrible one that must be reversed at once. Not only is it detrimental to the global climate but it also sends mixed messages to countries world-wide about tackling climate change, which is the last thing we need in this fight.
Coal miner’s child using a hole in the door to enter a bedroom with a smoking pipe in one hand and a gun in the other in Bertha Hill, West Virginia. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott. 1938
this is west virginia, what do you mean, they still let this shit happen
From the time he was in fourth grade, West Virginia native Jamie Lester knew he wanted to be an artist. He credits his mother, Debbie, with igniting his interest in the arts at such an early age. A painter herself, she kept Jamie furnished with pencils, papers, paints, charcoals, and other art supplies during his formative years. To this day, Jamie is still inspired by her artistic creations. He also attributes a drawing class he took as an eight year old from Seay Earehart to his early artistic development, as well as his elementary school art teacher Harlan Brown.
Jamie continued to refine his skills and went on to earn a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from West Virginia University in 1997. He began the program with a concentration in painting, but decided to pursue Ceramics and Sculpture after taking an introductory pottery class. Upon graduation, Jamie formed Lester Sculpture and later, Vandalia Bronze LLC., both of which specialize in Bronze Monument and Memorial pieces. His work can be found throughout the United States, including Florida Atlantic University, West Virginia University, Yankee Stadium, and The Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance, which commemorates the firefighters who lost their lives on September 11th. In 2003, Jamie created what is perhaps his most well known design – the obverse side of West Virginia’s Commemorative State Quarter, which depicts the famed New River Gorge Bridge. Today, Jamie works in Morgantown, West Virginia where he lives with his three children Hannah, Everett, and Sophia.
While he has established a distinguished career as a commercial sculptor, Jamie creates work in a variety of mediums, including sculptural ceramics and watercolor paintings. Despite working across media categories, figurative studies maintain central focus in Jamie’s work. “I have always been fascinated with the human figure, particularly the portrait,” he explains. “The human spirit, in all its imperfect beauty, shines through in the subtle and varying expressions and the intricate bone structures of the body. We are so delicate and fragile, yet so strong and resilient. The notion of beauty, and the exploration of it, compels me. I am an extrovert, and a people person. I love people.”
Jamie currently has five watercolor paintings and one ceramic sculpture on display in Tamarack’s Urban Flow exhibition, which runs until April 6, 2015. While he expresses urban themes central to West Virginia in both mediums, the materials with which he created the works serve as a vehicle to tell two different stories. In his watercolor works, Jamie is able to revisit his roots as an artist, and he is capable of expressing things on paper that he can’t in a sculpture, particularly in reference to the viewer’s point of view. “In a painting, I can depict a scene from one point of view [and] there can be elements that are hidden by virtue of perspective. In a sculpture, all sides can be viewed as [one] moves around the dimensional piece, so there is less left up to the imagination.”
The paintings depict a surreal relationship between human figures and architectural structures, all of which are local Morgantown scenes. The larger-than-life figures interact freely with their structural surroundings, peeking in windows or nestling behind houses. “The idea for changing the scale of the figure(s) comes from a condition called Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, which I have mild experiences with from time to time,” he explains. “It is marked by a feeling that [parts of the body] are changing in size. [In this series] I am changing the scale of the human body, and depicting them interacting with this environment…With the change in scale, a mundane act becomes a more powerful act. We become the figure, and become the aliens in our own world…too big to truly fit, outsiders… I’m [also] inspired by older, run down urban neighborhoods. I am drawn to the weathered elements, the graffiti, the overgrown weeds and vines. I like the contrast of natural beauty and crumbling structures.”
In his sculptural ceramic piece, Jamie still embraces a compositional relationship between figures and architectural structures, but in this case, the work speaks on a subject all too familiar to many West Virginia residents. Aptly titled In the Blood, Jamie’s utilizes three dimensional space to show the upper body of a coal miner enclosed by tipple posts and beams. The figure reaches behind his back in an effort to grasp and break the tipple supports, but the coal and fodder continue to flow. This evocative piece was inspired by Jamie’s personal relationship with the coal industry and the implications fossil fuel dependency has presented to the population of West Virginia. He explains:
My father was a coal miner, and died from lung cancer in 2008 at the age of 60. Many of my family members have suffered injury or death in the coal mines. Coal is part of West Virginia. Coal is part of the people of West Virginia. We are made of coal. I have great respect for coal miners. I do believe that coal is a double edged sword for the people of our state. There are effects of coal mining on our state that I find troubling, and I look forward to a time when, generations from now, we can admire a post-coal West Virginia, with a healthy economy not so heavily reliant on fossil fuel extraction. It is a scary thing for the people of West Virginia, because it is all we have ever known. But I am optimistic that the hard working, entrepreneurial spirit of our people will prevail.
While Jamie has concerns about this facet of West Virginia’s industrial culture, he still draws much positive influence from the Mountain State, and attributes much of his professional success to the opportunities living in West Virginia have provided. “Having grown up in West Virginia, attending WVU, and living in Morgantown has defined my life, and rewarded me with opportunities that I may not have found in other states…I love the beauty of my home state and the endearing and warm people who live here…”
To learn more about Jamie and to see additional examples of his work, visit his website at www.lestersculpture.com
