A powerful series of photo collages begun in 2023, The Reinforcements visualizes the labor history of Black and immigrant women of color in the American corporate workplace.
Drawing from archival images—including photographs of Mestrich’s own mother, who worked in sales at Rugol Trading Corporation in New York City in the late 1960s—the work explores the everyday realities and systemic inequities that have long defined professional life for women of color.
Despite the founding of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1965, Black and other women of color continue to face racial and gender discrimination, limited pathways to leadership, and persistent wage inequality.
In response to the absence of robust archival material addressing these inequities, Mestrich has created speculative visual narratives by collaging images from vintage fashion and office supply magazines. The resulting works are imagined interventions into a historical record that too often neglects the labor, agency, and ambitions of these women.
The Reinforcements not only centers the experiences of its subjects but also asks viewers to reckon with the ongoing erasure of women of color in corporate and institutional histories.
