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Tourmaline: Transcendent | Exhibition Kit

Tourmaline, Transcendent series 2022 – 25 (detail), installation view, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, 2025. Courtesy the artist and Chapter NY. Photograph: Andrew Curtis.
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Transcendent is the first Australian solo exhibition by acclaimed American artist, filmmaker and writer, Tourmaline, who works at the intersection of activism and fine art. Developed in close consultation with the artist, Transcendent is an elegant and powerful exhibition that speaks to urgent contemporary issues. Tourmaline has researched celebrated historical figures to create work that strives to make sense of broader issues facing her communities.

Transcendent features new large-scale photographs and the global debut of Tourmaline’s new video work, specially commissioned by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA). A Flower That Lives Forever 2025 extends her ongoing research into queer histories, including her recently published biography on the life and legacy of revolutionary LGBTIQA+ activist Marsha P. Johnson. 

Tourmaline is sharing a story that feels deeply pertinent to the times. Figures like Johnson have become powerful symbols of the need for queer solidarity with the trans community. Johnson rose to prominence for her role in the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City – an event often linked to the queer community’s mourning of Judy Garland and their resistance to police raids. With trans rights increasingly under threat globally, this timely exhibition invites reflection on those legacies, while challenging audiences to engage with the political present.

Transcendent will also include the first Australian presentation of Tourmaline’s iconic film Pollinator (2022). This moving single-channel video incorporates archival footage from Marsha P. Johnson’s funeral procession and community celebration.

This exhibition is part of ACCA’s 2025–2026 Summer Season highlighting the work of two leading artists: r e a and Tourmaline. These two exhibitions, r e a : c l a i m e d and Tourmaline: Transcendent,  while distinct, share an exploration of identity, history, and resilience during a critical moment for trans, Black, and First Nations people globally.

Artist: Tourmaline
Curated by: Sophie Prince

Curatorial Essay

Link to Wall Labels

Advisory note: This exhibition contain material that references traumatic and distressing experiences, including moments in Queer history. References to death by suicide, violence against LGBTQIA+ communities, mental health, and sex work.

  1. Introduction
  2. About the Artist
  3. Key artworks
    1. Tourmaline, Transcendent Series 2022–2025
  4. Support Material
  5. For Teachers

How to use this kit

This exhibition kit has been developed by ACCA Education to support learning in conjunction with the ACCA exhibition, Tourmaline: Transcendent. One key artworks from the exhibition has been highlighted, with discussion questions to prompt students’ thinking. Primary and secondary activities, mapped to the Victorian and Australian Curriculum, can be found in the For Teachers section. Upon request, VCE students and teachers can view Support Material for further reading and teaching notes drawn from ACCA’s VCE Programs. Link to a secondary activity via the r e a : c l a i m e d | Education Kit here.

About the Artist

Tourmaline (she/her)
Born
Lives and works

Born in 1983 in Roxbury, MA, Tourmaline (she/her) lives and works in Miami, Florida. Tourmaline’s practice highlights the experiences of Black, queer, and trans communities and their capacity to change the world. Recent solo and group exhibitions include MASP, São Paulo; MUDAM, Luxembourg; Chapter NY, New York; the 2024 Whitney Biennial, New York; and the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice. 

She has also featured in group exhibitions at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek; South London Gallery, London; MASS MoCA, North Adams; Tate Modern, London; the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; LACMA, Los Angeles; MoMA, New York; the Athens Biennale; the Brooklyn Museum; The Bronx Museum of the Arts; MoMA PS1; the High Line; The Kitchen, New York; BFI Flare, London; Portland Art Museum; Aspen Art Museum; BAM Cinematek, Brooklyn; The New Museum; MOCA, Los Angeles; the Studio Museum in Harlem; and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Key Artwork

Tourmaline, Transcendent series 2022 – 25 (detail), installation view, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, 2025. Courtesy the artist and Chapter NY. Photograph: Andrew Curtis.

Tourmaline, Transcendent Series, 2022–2025

dye sublimation print
79.5 x 80.0 cm (framed)
Courtesy the artist and Chapter NY, New York
Commissioned by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne, 2025

Key ideas/concepts: Beauty, history, freedom dreaming, critical fabulations, self-portraiture, photography.

Transcendent Series is a new suite of seven photographs shot in Venice, Italy, created in dialogue with the new video, A Flower That Lives Forever 2025. The series reimagines the spiritual power Marsha P. Johnson harnessed from the entity of the river throughout her life.

Johnson often sought out rejuvenating moments along the river systems of New York City. The necessity of Johnson finding a grounding presence is revealed through Tourmaline’s research, which situates Johnson’s lived experience within interlocking systems of oppression.

Channeling Johnson’s defiance in prioritising joy and freedom, Transcendent Series depicts the artist in fashion-forward custom looks. Owning her moment, Tourmaline is styled by longstanding collaborator, Claire Sullivan. Tourmaline asserts beauty as a powerful tool for sustaining the energy to meaningfully change with the world. The works also explore a context where hopes and dreams can play out immediately. She depicts herself enlivened in states of bliss, serenity, joy and relaxation, continuing her interest in both conveying and practicing the values that inform her work.

Discussion Questions

  • Inspired by Marsha P. Johnson’s connection with the river, Tourmaline recreates her own joyful moment on the water (exploring the canals in Venice by boat). What feelings are expressed in each of the photographs?
  • What do you think it means to ‘own your moment’? What would help you reach this state of being?
  • Do these works look like other self-portraits you’ve studied or seen before? Why or why not? Consider similarities and any differences.

For Teachers

Primary activities

Reimagining the Past

This activity is devised in response to artworks in the exhibition Tourmaline: Transcendent, including Transcendent Series 2022-2025 and A Flower That Lives Forever 2025. In her work, Tourmaline critically engages with history to imagine new and better futures. In this activity, students will use the past as a starting point for an artwork.

Step One: Select a historical event or figure that interests you. Research this moment or person from the past, collecting 3-5 key facts. Consider what it is about this event or person that is inspiring to you. Tourmaline has a strong affinity with Marsha P. Johnson, whose own journey and approach to life mirrors that of Tourmaline.

Step Two: Tourmaline uses a practice called ‘freedom dreaming’ as part of her artistic process. This is a kind of daydreaming, where you ask questions and imagine what’s possible. You can ask yourself, what do we have in our world that we want? What do we have that we don’t want? Consider what has changed and what has stayed the same since the moment from the past you researched. What can we learn from that event or person?

Step Three: Consider how you could recreate this event or person in an artwork. Tourmaline primarily works with photography and video work. In both her video work, A Flower That Lives Forever 2025 and her photographic series Transcendent 2022-2025, Tourmaline recreates a story told by a friend of Marsha. You may also like to make a short video work that creatively tells the story of a particular place or person in time. Alternatively, you may like to dress up in a way that references the past moment or person, and use a camera to create self-portraits.

Tourmaline uses a combination of new footage and archival material. If working with video, consider using a variety of clips in your work to create a collage effect. You could use clips found online (be sure to follow copyright guidelines and focus on using material in the public domain), clips you’ve filmed yourself and perhaps footage from your childhood, if relevant. How does combining old and new footage in one work challenge our sense of time? For example, does it help convey the way the past, present and future are connected? 

Step Four: Share your artwork with your class. If everyone has made video works, hold a screening session. If everyone has worked with photography, print out the best images and display them as an exhibition somewhere around your school. Consider how your classmates have responded to a different time or person who inspires them. What might your collective future look like if you combined all of these imaginings?

Australian Curriculum / Visual Arts / Years F-6

  • Explore how and why the arts are important for people and communities (AC9AVAFE01)
  • Experiment and play with visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials (AC9AVA2D01)
  • Use visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials to create artworks that communicate ideas, perspectives and/or meaning (AC9AVA4C01)

Victorian Curriculum / Visual Arts / Levels F-6

  • Explore how and why the visual arts are important for people and communities (VC2AVAFE01)
  • Explore ways of using visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials (VC2AVA2D01)
  • Use visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials to create artworks that communicate ideas, perspectives and meaning (VC2AVA4C01)

Curriculum Interpretation

This activity is devised in response to artworks in the exhibition Tourmaline: Transcendent, including Transcendent Series 2022-2025 and A Flower That Lives Forever 2025.

By undertaking these activities, students:

  • Research and utilise historical events and figures to inspire their artmaking.
  • Experiment with new technologies including photography and/or video.
  • Explore ideas related to the past, present and future in artworks.

Secondary activities

r e a : c l a i m e d | Education Kit for Secondary Activity here

Terms of Use

This education resource has been produced by ACCA Education to provide information and classroom support material for education visits to the exhibition Tourmaline: Transcendent. The reproduction and communication of this resource is permitted for educational purposes only.

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