Finding the Philosopher's Stone-Eliza Swann

THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE: The Limitless Alchemical Imagination” – Lecture + Booksigning with author & artist Eliza Swann What is the Philosopher's Stone, and why has its pursuit endured for millennia? This talk moves through the architecture of alchemy – its symbolic systems, material experiments and metaphysical ambitions – tracing a lineage from the Hellenistic world to contemporary practice. Along the way, we'll consider the many forms the Philosopher's Stone has taken: a substance, a process, a state of consciousness, an artistic or spiritual achievement.

We'll look closely at the strange methods alchemists devised in their attempts to realize the Stone: from body modification, to the drawing of sigils and encoded diagrams, to the use of fermented urine believed to harbor latent vital forces.

Seen together, these practices reveal alchemy as a hybrid field where experimentation, imagination and devotion converge. The Philosopher's Stone hovers at the edge of impossibility, and it is precisely this condition that opens a space for radical creativity. The quest does not resolve; it deepens, expands and continually renews itself across time.

This talk is an introduction to The Alchemical Imagination by Eliza Swann, which traces the twelve stages outlined by George Ripley for creating the Philosopher’s Stone in the laboratory. Through this lens, the book reimagines alchemy as both a historical practice and a living, creative process—one that continues to unfold through art, consciousness, and transformation today.

Bio: Eliza Swann, aka Emerald, is a New York–based interdisciplinary artist, writer, and educator. They are the author of The Anatomy of the Aura (St. Martin’s, 2020), Green Mary (Cosmic Dog House Press, 2024), and The Alchemical Imagination (Weiser/Red Wheel, 2026). Their writing has appeared in BOMB, Arthur, Contemporary Art Review LA, Momus, and Perfect Wave, and in anthologies including Witchcraft (Taschen) and Modern Witches (Weiser). They hold a BA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Central Saint Martins, London, and have exhibited internationally, with recent shows at UC Santa Cruz and the Feminist Center for Creative Work in Los Angeles. Their work has been supported by grants from PEN America, the Foundation for Contemporary Art, the Author’s League Fund, the Gottlieb Foundation, and others, and through residencies at institutions including the California Botanic Gardens and the Art/Life Institute. Eliza is faculty at Pratt Institute, where they teach literature and alchemy. They were a 2023 lecturer-in-residence at the Philosophical Research Society and a 2024 lecturer-in-residence at Honey’s Brooklyn, leading programs on alchemy and art.