This White T-Shirt (2020)
-
This White T-Shirt is a hand embroidered garment reflecting on the seemingly simple act of wearing a white t-shirt after top surgery, and the heavy significance of all the moments leading up to it.
In the trans masculine community, a white T-shirt is often a rite of passage garment. Outlines of a chest binder are visible underneath a white T-shirt, and it often draws attention to a bound chest.
Samuel has hand embroidered black text on a white shirt he has only worn after having his top surgery. Samuel is deeply interested in the idea of adornment to the body, making parallels between stitches on worn garments and sutures on the body. Through its tender and tactile nature, embroidery brings Samuel closer to his transness, it allows him to be patient, to take things slow and reflect on how far he’s come.
Hand embroidery on worn cotton shirt. 55cm x 72cm
-
2023 Unravelling Queerly, Australian Design Centre, NSW
2022 Gender Euphoria Looks Good On You, Packing Room Gallery: Sock Drawer Heroes HQ, Petersham, NSW
2021 Gay Boy, Imperial UP: The Imperial Erskineville, Erskineville, NSW
2021 Goodspace 6th Birthday, Goodspace Gallery, Chippendale, NSW
Detail of ‘This White T-Shirt’. Photo by Rhiannon Hopley, at Unravelling Queerly, ADC, 2023.