Arabel Lebrusan

I find joy and meaning in transforming materials into physical metaphors, giving voice to those falling through the cracks of the system. From an iron plaque depicting the haunting profile of a woman and her unborn fetus, both forged from the same iron ore, to crafting healing rings from confiscated police knives, my work revolves around amplifying the stories that desperately need to be told.

I’m interested in tension; the type in old-fashioned fairytales, where the witch eats the kids instead of the candy, and my works always harbour a deep connection to the visceral and the uncanny. Growing up, I was deeply connected to my maternal ancestors, women who transformed materials through alchemical processes and rituals – cooking oil into soap and blood into food. These traditions and crafts left a profound impact on me. Years later, while traveling the world as a jewellery designer, I witnessed first-hand the abuse of natural resources, fuelling my yearning for justice. My experience in ethical jewellery heightened my sensitivity to mining disasters and the accompanying abuses of extractivism, from community displacement to environmental devastation.

My current body of work at the RCA, “Coal Measures” delves into the UK's coal mining industry through the lens of ecofeminism, ecological grief, and social history. I am fascinated by the intersection of art and activism, drawing inspiration from influential women artists who paved the way before me, such as Doris Salcedo, Teresa Margolles, Mona Hatoum and Cornelia Parker, and their extraordinary use of humble but charged materials.

This year I have carved coal, mined geological maps for inspiration, and researched the history and disasters of coal mining in the UK. I have delved into the Aberfan disaster of 1966, where tragedy struck, and I have also examined the recently approved 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. I traveled to the valleys of South Wales, climbing spoil tips scattered throughout the landscape. In my journeys, I have collected mining residues—rusting railings, disintegrating steel wires, and coal—that have found their way into my artworks. These fragments serve as tangible connections to the landscapes and histories I seek to explore.

Engaging with local activists from Friends of the Earth and the international conversations from the London Mining Network has expanded my understanding of Feminist Political Ecology. It has enabled me to draw connections between distant lands and bodies, from the children losing their lives in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, to those lost 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.