Transitions: Curating the In-Between
Post-Opening Reflection, Romulus Folio Gallery
Transitions opened at Romulus Folio Gallery as an exhibition concerned not with duration, process, and states of becoming.
The exhibition frames transition as a continuous condition, unfolding across bodies, materials, relationships, and spaces, rather than a moment of rupture. The opening night functioned as an extension of the exhibition’s core inquiry: how transformation is lived, sustained, and held over time.
Photographed by Guy Holliday
Romulus Folio operates as a living curatorial site. Embedded within a residential and social environment at The Gladstone, the gallery is interwoven with daily life rather than separated from it. This context shapes both curatorial decisions and modes of audience engagement. The opening reflected this condition: artists, residents, collectors, families, and community members shared the space, allowing the exhibition to be encountered through proximity and conversation.
We were honoured to have Transitions formally opened by Alex Makin, Mayor of the City of Port Phillip, whose thoughtful opening address acknowledged the importance of artist-led spaces, cultural continuity, and community-based practice within the municipality. His ongoing support of arts and culture in this precinct is deeply valued.
Photographed by Guy Holliday
Artistic Practices
The exhibition brings together artists whose practices engage transition through materially distinct but conceptually aligned approaches.
Gerard Russo’s Intervalle series explores the body as a temporal state. Through charcoal and erasure, his figures hover between movement and stillness, drawing on early motion studies while resisting fixed narrative. The works operate as suspended gestures, holding the viewer inside a moment that has not yet resolved.
Artist, Gerard Russo. Photographed by Guy Holliday
Andrea Vargas’ ceramic works draw on the poetics of water, migration, and memory. Her surfaces retain a sense of flow even once solidified, suggesting forms that have only recently settled. Transition here is embedded in material behaviour and represented symbolically as water is never still.
Artist Andrea Vargas. Photographed by Guy Holliday
Keith Ross presents intimate scenes drawn from everyday human connection. Through restrained gesture and clear colour, his works foreground emotional transition as relational and subtle, often unfolding quietly within ordinary moments.
Artist Kieth Ross
Fiona Johnston’s works explore transition through accumulation, sediment, and tactile density. Using sand, pigment, and layered surface, her practice reflects processes of formation forgrounding fluidity rather than sudden change. Her works register time through material build-up, positioning transition as something grounded, physical, and patient.
Artost Fiona Johnston. Photographed by Guy Holliday.
Anita Mirabito’s suspended crochet work introduces a slow, accumulative logic to the exhibition. Built through repetition and care, the work maps transition through time and touch, positioning softness and patience as structural forces rather than secondary qualities.
Photographed by Guy Holliday.
Alongside these practices, a silent documentary video by Scott Ross traces the spatial and social evolution of Romulus Folio over recent months. The work documents rearrangement, negotiation, and occupation, positioning the gallery itself as both subject and medium.
Transitions is curated by interdisciplinary contemporary artist, Angelina Mirabito.
Gallery Manager & documentary videographer, Scott Ross, City of Port Philip Mayor Alex Makin, Contemporary interdisciplinary artist and curator, Angelina Mirabito. Photographed by Guy Holliday.
Dedication
Transitions is dedicated to Ivy Ruth Dakis, the girl who loved to dance. Russo’s Intervalle series carries this dedication, holding movement not only as physical action but as memory and enduring presence. The dedication situates the exhibition’s inquiry into transition within lived experience, care, and remembrance.
Context and Community
Romulus Folio’s location within The Gladstone is not incidental to the exhibition but foundational to its curatorial approach. We extend our sincere thanks to The Gladstone for their ongoing partnership and generosity in hosting the gallery within their residential and social environment.
The Gladstone community forms an integral part of the gallery’s daily life, shaping how exhibitions are encountered, activated, and sustained. This embedded context allows art to be experienced as part of lived space rather than as a separate or isolated event.
Photographed by Guy Holliday.
Curatorial Position
For Romulus Folio, Transitions marks a point of consolidation. The exhibition reflects an ongoing interest in galleries as active sites rather than neutral containers, and in curating as a practice of holding space over time.
The opening night reinforced this methodology. Conversations unfolded slowly. Artists spoke directly with audiences. The exhibition was activated through presence. This approach continues beyond the opening, with Transitions remaining open as a space for sustained encounter where works are lived with rather than consumed.
Photographed by Guy Holliday.
Big thank you to everyone who attended. Including Santa for bringing some Christmas magic and the incredible Connie’s catering. Guy Holliday M9 Media House for videography and photography.
Romulus Folio Gallery
55 Gladstone Street, South Melbourne, VIC 3205
Exhibition dates
5 Dec 2025 to 25 Jan 2026
Visiting hours
Wednesday to Friday 12 pm to 7 pm
Saturday to Sunday 12 pm to 5 pm
Or by appointment
Closed
19 Dec 2025 to 8 Jan 2026