Artist Statement

by Michael Putorti

The LGBTQ community has always been a huge part of my life,

shaping me as an individual. But I still had not let it merge into another part

of my life; my art. For as long as I have been a member of the community,

those who identified as transgender and/or non-binary have always

appealed to me. I started thinking of how I could involve these people in my

artwork. I thought of how, like others within the community, these people

are ostracized from society and are treated with hatred and cruelty simply

because society has very little knowledge on what it is like to be

transgender. I would like my series “Emergence”, which refers to the

process of transitioning that transgender individuals go through, to educate

society on the fluid concept of gender identity and give viewers a better

understanding of what these people live through. I feature prints of

individuals who have given me pre and post-transition images; some who

transitioned from male to female, some who transitioned from female to

male, and others who identify as non-binary transgender. I have set each

print against a background that utilizes the colors of the transgender flag

and have turned it into a timeline to show that this process occurs over

time. These individuals, much like all of us, are on a journey that spans

across their lives. My hope is that my work can provide knowledge and

understanding, so that we as a society can make that journey easier for

these people.