Eliza Swann, THE ALCHEMICAL IMAGINATION

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Moving beyond myth and metaphor, Swann explores alchemy as a creative discipline rooted in responsibility, renewal, and revolutionary possibility. This talk asks what alchemy can offer us as we face ecological collapse, move through grief, and insist on new forms of living. Alongside vivid stories of historical alchemists, Swann centers poet and activist Diane di Prima as a key contemporary case study, tracing in her work the meeting point of alchemy, art, and revolutionary imagination. Open to all levels of experience with alchemy, The Alchemical Imagination invites audiences into an accessible and inspiring rethinking of alchemy as a necessary practice for collective change and creative renewal.

Eliza Swann is an interdisciplinary artist, intuitive, writer, and educator based in New York. They are the author of The Anatomy of the Aura, which bestselling author Yumi Sakugawa called “beautiful and life-affirming,” and the founder of the Golden Dome School, an alternative school that explores the mystical dimensions of art. The Alchemical Imagination draws on Eliza’s ten years of teaching alchemy in universities and cultural institutions, including a long-standing popular interdisciplinary art and alchemy course at the Pratt Institute. Eliza received a BA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Central St. Martins in London. Their writing has appeared in BOMB, Arthur, Contemporary Art Review LA, Momus, and Perfect Wave, as well as numerous anthologies. Their work has been supported by PEN America, the Foundation for Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Pratt Faculty Development Fund, the Feminist Center for Creative Work, and many other arts institutions. As a visual artist, Eliza has exhibited artwork internationally, most recently at the University of California Santa Cruz, and the Feminist Center for Creative Work in Los Angeles, California.

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