This week’s gallery picks examine the indelible marks that the past makes on the present.

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1. I Am Writing You Tomorrow artist Penny Hes Yassour’s work pays homage to Chinese ink painting and calligraphy, exploring how meaning is constructed and conveyed in visual art at Pacific Asia Museum
2. Juan Manuel Echavarría’s striking photographs depict the consequences of the endless Colombian drug wars at Josée Bienvenu Gallery
3. Hank Willis Thomas scoured numerous publications and archives looking for graphics, images and audio that exemplify, through popular culture, South Africa’s recent history. at Goodman Gallery
4. Prune Nourry’s Terracotta Daughters is composed by 108 life size sculptures, paying respect to Xi’an, China’s Terracotta Soldiers while turning traditional ideas on their head at Magda Danysz Gallery
5. Jennifer Trask does fascinating work blending bone with botany at Lisa Sette Gallery
6. Joana Vasconcelos explores her roots at Manchester Galleries