“They Tagged the Land with Trophies and Institutions from Their Rapes and Conquests”

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tk0EdVZKLKCdJ5HegkupGONyVexUP0z5bZbxLt8UAx0/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0

-Jacqueline Cohen

Nona Faustine was a photographer and visual artist who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Faustine’s work focused on history, identity, representation, and evoking a critical and emotional understanding of the past, proposing a deeper examination of contemporary racial and gender stereotypes. In her collection White Shoes, created in 2021, Faustine came out with the work titled “Ethereal”.  Faustine is shown to be in the photo and kneeling in prayer at this tree. Her body, which is shown to be wrapped in a golden gown, is said to represent a chrysalis. Taken in Central Park of what used to be Seneca Village, Faustine attempted to display the traces of African American histories, reimagining what it would have been like if the space had been properly preserved rather than paved and destroyed. 

Source:

Musawwir, Jennifer S. “In Their Shoes: Nona Faustine’s White Shoes Now at the Brooklyn Museum.” DailyArt Magazine, April 22, 2024. https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/nona-faustine-white-shoes/

Two Palms. “Nona Faustine.” Two Palms. https://www.twopalms.us/artists/nona-faustine#tab:slideshow

Sims, Delphine. “Remembering Nona Faustine’s Powerful Self-Portraits.” Aperture, April 4, 2025. https://aperture.org/editorial/remembering-nona-faustines-powerful-self-portraits/

Church St. & Lispenard St., NYC, 2015. In front of David Ruggles’s House where Frederick Douglass was granted asylum after escaping slavery in Maryland.

Betty Yu’s “Grandma Working at a Food Factory in Williamsburg Brooklyn” is a tribute to the often overlooked labor and resilience of Asian immigrant women in mid-20th century America. With the use of archival family photographs, the piece connects personal history with a larger theme of immigration, identity, and cultural memory. I believe it highlights the significant yet non-recognized contributions of Asian Americans who worked tirelessly in industries like food factories despite facing systemic discrimination. This artwork lets viewers think about the experiences and challenges that immigrants faced and how it was never talked about in history.