"The Crown Act", 2023 - Qiana Mestrich

“The Crown Act”, 2023
Mixed Media Collage on Vintage
Computer Punch Cards
13” x 7 3⁄8” (unframed)
16.25” x 10.5” (framed)

Qiana Mestrich (b.1977) is an interdisciplinary artist and photo historian whose
work critically engages with themes of Black, mixed-race identity,
motherhood/mothering and women's corporate labor. Informed by her upbringing
as the daughter of immigrants from Panama and Croatia, Mestrich's artistic practice
is complemented by contributions to the field of contemporary photography history.
Her artwork has garnered international attention, with exhibitions at the RAY
Fotografieprojekte Frankfurt/RheinMain and London Art Fair's Photo50.

A graduate of the ICP-Bard College MFA program, Mestrich’s work has been
recognized through awards like the 2025 Saltzman Prize and CPW Vision Award, as
well as the 2022 Magnum Foundation's Counter Histories grant for her research on
women of color in the corporate workplace. Her solo exhibition on this body of
work, The Reinforcements, is currently on view now through August 16th at Baxter
St in the Lower East Side.

Mestrich's dedication to expanding the discourse around photography is evident in
her 2007 founding of Dodge & Burn: Decolonizing Photography History. This arts
initiative, which evolved from a blog into a vital critique group, championed
underrepresented photographers of color. Her latest book published by Routledge in
March 2025, features 35 updated interviews from the blog along with 7 critical
essays on photography. Mestrich lives and works between Brooklyn and New York's
Hudson Valley.