• Natasha Walsh is both artist and alchemist. For more than a decade, copper has been central to her practice, not...

    Natasha Walsh is both artist and alchemist. For more than a decade, copper has been central to her practice, not simply as a surface to paint on, but as an active material that shifts, oxidises, and transforms over time.

    In Transmutation of the night sky, Walsh looks to early alchemy and the ancient relationship between the planets and metals. Across seven intimate paintings on copper, constellations observed from the Southern Hemisphere connect the material world beneath us with the night sky above.

    Each work pairs a constellation with its historically associated metal, from the Sun and gold to Venus and copper. Together, the series considers the ancient idea that celestial and earthly matter are connected, with copper acting as the point where these two worlds meet.

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  • Transmutation of the Night Sky.

    By Natasha Walsh

    Drawing from early alchemy, this suite of seven paintings explores the ancient understanding that the movements of the night sky share a direct, physical relationship with the materials of the earth. Observed from the vantage of the Southern Hemisphere, seven constellations are rendered as intimate celestial maps suspended over low horizons, translating the vastness of space into contemplative, jewel-like nocturnes.

    Rather than engaging modern astrological tropes, the series investigates historical planetary rulerships and their foundational ties to the seven metals in early metallurgy: the Sun (Gold) in Leo, the Moon (Silver) in Cancer, Mercury (Quicksilver) in Virgo, Venus (Copper) in Taurus, Mars (Iron) in Scorpio, Jupiter (Tin) in Sagittarius, and Saturn (Lead) in Aquarius. While classical texts often privileged gold as the final endpoint, this series positions copper as the foundational vessel—a living, receptive support, honouring the metal's pivotal place in my eleven-year practice and celebrating the potential of transformation within the alchemical journey.

    This dialogue is embedded directly within the physical construction of each piece. Mounted within dark timber profiles, each miniature oil painting rests on an exposed copper plate prepared to cultivate slow, atmospheric oxidation. The delicate patinas that developed organically across the metal echo the grain and warmth of the surrounding timber.

    Historically ruled by Venus—the metal of attraction, harmony, and physical embodiment—copper acts as an active collaborator rather than an inert ground. Through its initial volatility and enduring stability once cured with hand-ground oils, the metal substrate bridges the eternal geometry of the southern sky with the living, metamorphic chemistry of raw matter.

  • Natasha walsh
    Natasha walsh

    Natasha Walsh's practice is informed by an understanding of the artist as an alchemist. Known for her transformation of pigments on copper surfaces, Walsh's work acutely observes delicately-painted figures that emerge from the surface. ‘From the moment that I prepare the surface, it begins to naturally oxidise. I experiment with applying different ground pigments which change colour in response to this process. These paintings visibly age as I work on them. As such, my attempt to transfix time is inherently impossible and this interests me.’

     

    Walsh has been a recipient of multiple awards, prizes, and scholarships, including The Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, Mosman Art Prize, and The Kilgour Prize, and has been a finalist in The Archibald Prize four times, The BP Portrait Award (London National Portrait Gallery), The Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition (Edinburgh), and The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition (London).

     

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