Gemma Carosin

Artist Catalogue

Virtual Exhibition

Group Catalogue Site

the world he built for me to live in

Artist’s Statement

My photographs illustrate a non-linear narrative of my brother’s gender transition and how it has affected my family’s dynamic. The photographs play with construction and documentation to paint an idea of familial inter-relationships, liminal spaces and what goes on when the curtains are drawn.

At the centre of my family is my older brother. I am devoted to my brother, much like any younger sibling is of their older sibling. He taught me about equality, compassion and storytelling. He has taught me about gender, and how to perform it. He has shaped me, but I also shape him – it feels like in a much less profound way. I am under pressure to play the part of the responsible, protective older sibling, applied to me by my mother.

My photobook has a dual nature: it can be unfolded, up to roughly 17 metres in full length, or interacted with as a normal book with facing pages. Two copies of my photobook were displayed in my exhibition exam space to illustrate this – one carefully unfolded and curated on the table in the centre of the space in zigzags. In this display there are sections of facing pages to leaf through, folios within the greater concertina.

My long, thin table, just under 6 metres in length, was built by me and my mother especially for the photobook. It elegantly allows for the concertina to be folded out into sections, as the display demonstrates. It illustrates and magnifies the sheer length of the narrative, as well as providing an interesting sculptural component to my work. The Perspex page holders maintain the book’s folded nature, while also alluding to the fragility of the book as a whole. 

The other copy of my photobook was placed on a shelf, closed, to be paged through more intimately, like a usual photobook. This book is identical to the displayed one, meaning it too can unfold. The book cover is made from an offcut from curtains that have hung in my house my entire life, always sheltering from the prying eyes of nosy neighbours.

On another shelf, my exhibition catalogue was displayed. This book holds two essays: firstly, a personal essay on my family experience, which provides insight to my photographs. The second essay is in fulfilment of the Theory and Practice of Art FIN4012W course, and situates my artwork within a discourse of art.

When my brother started to transition roughly six years ago, our family was flung into a liminal space: Wherein you experience uncertainty, discomfort and exploration, solidifying your identity bit by bit. I experienced my own liminality in this time: trapped between playing a parent to my brother and a daughter to my parents. This liminal space just before adulthood is not uncommon, but my experience is dependent on my brother’s liminal space. I can only move on as an adult once my brother can be that for himself. My coming-of-age exploration is intertwined with his.

The concertina display style has allowed me to work with photographic sequence and series in a way I have not before. This complexity has helped me to explore my individual family members’ places within the narrative. My brother plays the part of protagonist, and I the narrator. Through my imaginings I am able to process my recent history, and gain an appreciation for the changes I have undergone in my and my