"The Truths We Bury" (2025)

Paper on board
60 x 40 inches

Nona Faustine (1977–March 20, 2025) was an African-American photographer and visual artist who was passionate about uncovering the dark history of slavery in New York. Her research ultimately led to her powerful series of self-portraits called “White Shoes”, which highlighted and unmasked burial sites of enslaved African people throughout the boroughs.

Faustine’s message has since then sparked conversations that are timely, haunting and healing. For having the courage to document and pay homage to our ancestors and their truth, I thank you Nona. What we refuse to acknowledge, we are doomed to repeat.

During the first year of my undergrad (BFA) at RISD, I took a design class that met at Market house on campus. Through multiple circumstances, I eventually learned the history of this building and Providence's involvement with the slave trade. At the time I struggled to process the fact that the very grounds I attended class on had such a dark history. To my surprise, there was no formal plague or acknowledgement of this history on the outside of the house made by RISD. I eventually took a self-portrait photograph of me sitting on the steps of Market House to bring awareness to my ancestors and this complicated space that once held a different meaning. Years later when I came across Nona’s poignant work and learned of her similar frustration uncovering New York’s history with the slave trade, I was in awe. I attended her solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum (2024) and was able to meet her along with her incredible “White Shoes” series. Realizing I met her just shy of a year ago before her passing in March was moving and I knew I had to do something. Say something. Make something.