Mary Tremonte
This print is about longwall mining, a type of coal extraction widely practiced in Appalachia, where I live, but that receives much less coverage than the more visibly devastating mountaintop removal. The mineral rights to land is generally owned by massive coal companies such as Consol; homeowners only have the rights to the surface. The cracked wallpaper pattern of this print references subsidence that occurs after a vein of coal is scraped out deep beneath the surface of the ground, empty space left behind, houses and waterways left to collapse as the ground shifts. I worked with the Center for Coalfield Justice to create this print.
Mary Tremonte is an artist, educator, activist and DJ. She is a member of Justseeds. Mary is a Youth Programs Coordinator at the Andy Warhol Museum and volunteers at Artists Image Resource and the Braddock Neighborhood Silkscreen Studio. She is consumed with printmaking, totally teens, collaboration, communication and the politics of social space, especially the dance-party.
