Bio

Madjeen Isaac is a first generation Haitian-American artist whose practice is rooted in home, community and (be)longing. Isaac reimagines and hybridizes landscapes pulling from elements of her hometown Brooklyn and ancestral homeland Haiti. 

Central to Isaac’s work is the “lakou”,  a communal yard or third space born out of the Haitian Revolution which she re-envisions as  ever-evolving sites shaped by environmental and systemic occurrences.

Isaac considers how the diaspora continues to place trust in reimagining new realities: How does one reinvent home away from home? What does it mean to dream sovereign futures into being? Through dream-like, nostalgic portals, she imagines worlds where access and autonomy are reclaimed, rooted in resistance, revolution, and collective care.

Isaac holds a BFA in Fine Art from the Fashion Institute of Technology and an MA in Art + Education & Community Practice from New York University. Her work is included in numerous private collections. She has participated in residencies/fellowships including Headlands Center for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Smack Mellon’s Artist Studio Program, BRIClab: Contemporary Artist Residency Program, the Laundromat Project Fellowship and Lakou NOU Artist Residency Program at Haiti Cultural Exchange. Her work has been exhibited at institutions including Smack Mellon, Brooklyn Museum, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute and The Frost Art Museum. In 2023 Isaac collaborated with KITH on an Artist Series Capsule Collection in Honor of Black History Month. Her practice has been recognized with awards including the 2024 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship for Painting and The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation among others.