In Madjeen Isaac’s work, past, present, and possibility converge. Combining experiences from her homeland of Haiti and her upbringing in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Isaac explores how collective care, memory, and ecological knowledge are crucial to building a more just future. Her lush urban environments invite us to consider how our relationships to place and to our community make us more resilient to personal adversities, social injustice, climate change, and other challenges.
Isaac’s practice is inspired by the Haitian concept of the “lakou,” which translates to “communal yard” or “small village.” Born out of the Haitian Revolution—the first rebellion by enslaved people to establish a sovereign state—the lakou is a decolonized system of living. It is a shared space where the community gathers to celebrate, mourn, connect with ancestors, and practice agricultural autonomy. The lakou is rooted not just in independence, but in interdependence.
These paintings, each a portal into an imagined lakou, ask us to engage more deeply with the lakous we inhabit today. Whether a stoop, street, backyard, garden, or museum, these communal spaces remind us that in order to face difficult times, we must lean into our connections to our environment, our history, our home, and each other.
