Fighting Demons (James River Floodwall)
2025Video projection with sound, 00:04:11 (looped in installation)
Filmed at the James River Floodwall, this piece is intended to be the first sentence in a larger and longer conversation about whiteness and masculinity, particularly in its relationship to natural landscapes. The James river contains a long history of violence. The name itself is an erasure of the Native American name “Powhatan River”. Dressed in a sort of sunday best attire, I attempt to address my whiteness and how it connects me to these violent histories. The “demons” in question are those histories, but also feelings of white/man guilt that come up as a result. My intention is not to evoke shame or a woe-is-me-mentality, but to visualize the ridiculous reality of those feelings.
This piece began in January of 2025