Senior Thesis

The Petoskey stone has been a symbol in my life for my own trans identity. It contains a type of fossilized coral that only becomes visible when the stone is wet. The dry stone is representative of who I was before taking the step to transition. 19 Years into my life, on June 14, 2023, I finally started my medical transition, and have been slowly becoming the person 4 year old Phillip went to bed every night wishing he’d magically wake up as.

For this collection, I was very inspired by the nature of the stone, having such a dramatic before and after, similar to my transition, but I also liked the idea of the beauty of both sides of the stone, the wet and the dry. I wanted to emphasize that even though I have transitioned, I still existed before that. All of the memories I made, friends I had, photos of me, knowledge I gained, places I visited, and art I created prior to my transition still exist. The petoskey stone does not change shape; the surface just looks different when it is wet.

That is what I wanted to encapsulate in this collection. I wanted to create a love letter to my trans identity and the long journey it took to finally become Gigi.