The Alchemical Imagination: Creativity as Catalyst for Radical Transformation

by Eliza Swann, Susan L. Aberth (Foreword by)

Overview

The Alchemical Imagination, by modern alchemist and artist Eliza Swann, liberates alchemy and offers a revolutionary set of histories, exercises, and techniques to allow readers to renew their creativity and themselves.
 
The Alchemical Imagination is the first book of its kind to address the ancient subject of alchemy through the lens of contemporary creativity. From an expert teacher of modern alchemy across disciplines, Eliza Swann distills this arcane science into an accessible series of philosophies and techniques to help readers find a deeper connection to their own creativity. Part workbook and part historical journey through the lives and practices of the great alchemists, The Alchemical Imagination highlights often-overlooked female alchemists and queer alchemical imagery and traces their many contributions to contemporary art, handing this ancient craft to a new generation.
 
In medieval Europe, alchemists referred to their combined scientific, mystical, and creative vocation as “The Great Art”—and for good reason. In alchemy, spiritual and material realities are inseparable, which freed alchemists to be interdisciplinary thinkers, leading to some of the most important technological advancements and creative breakthroughs of their era. The Alchemical Imagination traces the principles of alchemy through its applications in proto-chemistry, healing arts, psychology, visual art, and literature to help readers develop the tools to arrive at their own Great Art.
 
The Alchemical Imagination brings the alchemical worldview to 21st-century artists in pursuit of expanding their creative life and practices. Swann brings a modern, queer, femme perspective to alchemical theory in a voice that is lively, fresh, and grounded in their fifteen years of teaching alchemy in universities and community organizations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633413979
Publisher:	Red Wheel/Weiser
Publication date:	05/04/2026
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256

About the Author

Eliza Swann is an interdisciplinary artist, intuitive, writer, and educator based in New York City. 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. In 2023, they were selected as lecturer-in-residence at the Philosophical Research Society and have also been an invited lecturer at Central St. Martins, the San Francisco Art Institute, the Hammer Museum, the Pratt Institute, and the New School. Their writing has appeared in BOMB, Arthur, Contemporary Art Review LA, Momus, and Perfect Wave. They contributed essays to Taschen’s Witchcraft and A Confluence of Witches. 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 the Wassaic Project. 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.