Widline Cadet earned her BA in studio art from the City College of New York and an MFA from Syracuse University.
2025 Biennial Year Find out more
Through photography, video, sculpture, and installation, Cadet delves into intergenerational memory, selfhood, and erasure within the Haitian diasporic experience. Throughout her practice, Cadet draws inspiration from her memories, Haitian culture, folklore, and an archive of family photographs and videos to create speculative images that traverse specific moments in time and geographic locations, exploring inherited cultural beliefs and the ways that Black diasporic life continues to inform and shape her lived experiences.
She a recipient of a 2013 Mortimer-Hays Brandeis Traveling Fellowship, a 2018 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture artist in resident, a 2019 Lighthouse Works fellow, a 2019 Syracuse University VPA Turner artist in resident, a 2020 Lit List finalist, the 2020 Museum of Contemporary Photography’s Snider Prize winner, a recipient of a 2020 NYFA / JGS Fellowship in photography, a 2020-21 artist in residence at Studio Museum in Harlem, and a 2021-2022 visual arts fellow at Fine Arts Work Center. Recent solo exhibitions include Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, NL, and group exhibitions include International Center of Photography, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Somerset House, London, UK; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, amongst others.
Liverpool Biennial 2025
'Future Visions Arive a', 2024
Widline Cadet’s practice explores the complexities of Black diasporic life and survival, as well as the fragility of memory, using motifs which refer to her past, present, and future. Curious about her family history and the generation that preceded her, Cadet began to photograph her family members as well as friends, in an effort to expand her family’s existing small archive. As many of Cadet’s relatives do not have their own photographic records, she considers her photographs to also represent other lives. The photographs serve as an intergenerational way of knowing and imaging someone despite never meeting them. More recently, Cadet has turned the camera on herself, examining her own inner self and how it had been influenced by
Widline Cadet’s practice explores the complexities of Black diasporic life and survival, as well as the fragility of memory, using motifs which refer to her past, present, and future. Curious about her family history and the generation that preceded her, Cadet began to photograph her family members as well as friends, in an effort to expand her family’s existing small archive. As many of Cadet’s relatives do not have their own photographic records, she considers her photographs to also represent other lives. The photographs serve as an intergenerational way of knowing and imaging someone despite never meeting them. More recently, Cadet has turned the camera on herself, examining her own inner self and how it had been influenced by her migration. The works exhibited here were created between 2021 and 2024 and centre around Cadet’s family’s lived experience of emigrating from Haiti to the United States. The artist delves into intergenerational memory, selfhood, and erasure within the Haitian diasporic experience. Throughout her practice, Cadet draws inspiration from her memories, Haitian culture, folklore, and an archive of family photographs and videos to create speculative images that transcend specific moments in time and geographic locations, exploring inherited cultural beliefs and the ways that Black diasporic life continues to inform and shape her lived experiences. In ‘Sòti nan gran lanmou (From Such Great Love)’, the artist recreates an archival photograph of her mother on her wedding day. The wearer of a white dress is turned away from the camera, protected from the gaze of the viewer. In other works, Cadet uses motifs that reference her own childhood, such as the Bougainvillea plant around her neighborhood in Haiti and her gingham school uniform, while ‘Elusive Echo #1 (Green)’ and ‘Elusive Echo #2 (Red)’ reference architectural details seen both in Haiti and Los Angeles where she currently resides. Showing at Open Eye Gallery
'Future Visions Arive a', 2024
Showing at Open Eye Gallery
Tuesday–Sunday 10:00am–5:00pm-
Widline Cadet, Future Visions Arive a, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and NazarianCurcio.
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Widline Cadet, Santiman fantom (Ghost Feelings), 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Nazarian / Curcio. -
Widline Cadet, Ant yè ak demen (Between Yesterday and Tomorrow), 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Nazarian / Curcio. -
Widline Cadet, Nan / pou pout (In / For Everything), 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Nazarian / Curcio. -
Widline Cadet, Sòti nan gran lanmou (From Such Great Love), 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Nazarian / Curcio. -
Widline Cadet, An Elusive Echo #1 (Green), 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Nazarian / Curcio.
