Casey Larkin Mazer Carsel

Casey Larkin Mazer Carsel (they/them) is a Jewish artist and writer drawn to how the sharp beauty of history’s fragments are woven into homes in the cultural practice of storytelling. Their works of fiction and nonfiction have been published by journals including Takahē, The Documentarian, and Bus Projects. They have presented their work in solo exhibitions at the Comfort Station, Chicago; Co-Prosperity, Chicago; RM Gallery, Auckland; and Blue Oyster Gallery, Dunedin; among others.

In their experimental and interdisciplinary practice, Carsel seeks to untangle the ways in which narratives have been carried through the Jewish diaspora. Through a queer Jewish lens, Carsel examines socially inflected objects, histories, and materials of communication such as garlic, the Holocaust, and jokes in order to unravel the intentions and implications of storytelling practices both overt and covert and to look for how such practices shape identities and create communities.

Born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, Carsel earned an MFA in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. They have lectured and/or led creative workshops for the Poetry Foundation; Tides Institute & Museum of Art, Eastport, Maine; and Dnipro National University, Ukraine. They have held residencies and fellowships at institutions including the New York Public Library, Ragdale, and Fulbright Ukraine. They live in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, with their chosen family.