I’m thrilled to announce my work, Still Unfolding, has been shortlisted in this prestigious Art Prize.
Still Unfolding by Malcolm Koch. Medium: Oxidised copper sheet. Coated with a micro-crystalline wax polish. Mounted to a 6mm wooden panel painted with Liquid Copper paint.
Artist Statement
My abstract paintings feature mark-making on curved surfaces rather than flat picture planes. Once unfurled, these blind markings aim to reflect our natural environment. This non-linear journey challenges our perceptions and encourages a deeper reflection on nature and its processes.
Milburn Art Prize for Landscape
I see pictorial space as an inner landscape for the mind’s eye to roam; so it is not surprising if my paintings evoke the feeling of landscape. (I) know it is a mental projection but it is inherently delightful. While painting, I am issuing an open invitation for these illusions – or allusions – to enter. My conscious mind can be occupied with the making, and the unconscious can come up with its own surprises. John Peart
The 2025 Milburn Art Prize for Landscape reflects the evolving nature and aims of BIA to honour Paul Milburn, a much loved and respected tutor who began teaching in 1989 at BIA until his death in 2011. With this in mind we offer a prize of $10,000, along with approximately 5 highly commended awards of $1,000 each, awarded for a 2d artwork addressing the spirit of Paul Milburn’s legacy and John Peart’s musings on landscape as quoted above. Accepted media includes painting, drawing, printmaking, mixed media and photography.
We hope the Milburn Art Prize creates an opportunity for both established and emerging artists to bring a sense of surprise and openness to their interpretation of Landscape, while fostering an enriched dialogue between artists, community and arts industry.
Milburn Art Prize 2025
Metcalfe Gallery, Brisbane Institute Art Exhibition is on 9 – 30 May, 2025
Malcolm’s abstract copper art works are in a style that he calls “Membrane Art”. A working practice that is characterised by mark makings on curved structures rather than on a flat picture plane. The surface geometry underpins the aesthetic of each piece. So the drilling, saw cuts, patina (staining) processes were all developed through the practice of allowing the curved surface geometry to play a part in creating distinctive expressions before the transformation of flattening the profile. An aesthetic thought that he has been evolving since 2004.
More information: Malcolm’s work has had over 20 solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions, including at RiAus (FutureSpace Gallery) which had two exhibitions: Visual Entanglement in 2016 and Under the Surface in 2014. His work is in numerous private and corporate collections in Australia and overseas. He has been a three time finalist in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize. WNSAP–previously accepted entries, and a finalist in the Stanthorpe Art Prize and the South Australian Living Arts festival.This entry was posted in Malcolm Koch, On display on by Malcolm Koch. Edit
I’m thrilled to announce my work, From The Ashes, has been shortlisted in this prestigious Art Prize. The Stanthorpe Art Prize is an Australian national prize open to all artist in 6 various categories, including 3D composite.
From the Ashes. By Malcolm Koch: 63h x 113w x 4d cm Drill holes and oxidisation on copper sheets. Coated with a micro-crystalline wax polish. Mounted to a 3mm aluminium composite panel with 9mm spacing. Shadow boxed frame.
Artist Statement
This piece uses oxidised staining and interconnected drill holes to create a textured atmosphere that refers to a harrowing bushfire event. Each sculptural mark conveys energy through the interplay of shadows and puncture marks. A total of ten waves of expressions are present; one set of the nine expressions is reflected in the supplementary relief-piece, which represents our sense of belonging. It is a reminder that we are able to rise above the desecration of a location.
Malcolm’s abstract copper art works are in a style that he calls “Membrane Art”. A working practice that is characterised by mark makings on curved structures rather than on a flat picture plane. The surface geometry underpins the aesthetic of each piece. So the drilling, saw cuts, patina (staining) processes were all developed through the practice of allowing the curved surface geometry to play a part in creating distinctive expressions before the transformation of flattening the profile. An aesthetic thought that he has been evolving since 2004.
More information: Malcolm’s work has had over 20 solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions, including at RiAus (FutureSpace Gallery) which had two exhibitions: Visual Entanglement in 2016 and Under the Surface in 2014. His work is in numerous private and corporate collections in Australia and overseas. He has been a three time finalist in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize. WNSAP–previously accepted entries, and a finalist in the Stanthorpe Art Prize and the South Australian Living Arts festival.This entry was posted in Malcolm Koch, On display on by Malcolm Koch. Edit
I’m proud to have two of my pieces, Close To Water and Quantum Sunray selected to be included in this annual event.
Each year, Brighton Jetty Sculptures, raises funds for the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club volunteers. On display for 12 days, don’t miss out on seeing over 200 sculptured works by many South Australian and national Artists.
Entered under the newly developed category, Relief/Wall-hung Sculpture, I believe this describes what my work is about.
Patritti Brighton Jetty Sculptures January 22 to February 2, 2020 Brighton Beach, South Australia Open 8—8pm most days www.brightonjettyclassicsculptures.com
Close To Water, detail.Front on view: Close To Water, oil paint on JPP Synthetic, 905 gsm. Floating on silver acrylic-mirror strips and adhered to a 3mm back panel with 12mm spacers, 789h x 1072w x 40d mmSquare Root of an Expression (Quantum Sunray), detail, 824h x 732w x 40d mmFront on view: Square Root of an Expression (Quantum Sunray), Oil paint on JPP Synthetic, 905 gsm. Floating on silver acrylic-mirror strips and adhered to a 3mm back panel with 12mm spacers, 824h x 732w x 40d mm
You will find my work in the large white marquee. Located on Bindarra Reserve which is on the northern side of the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club.
My artist statement and description of the work: My curved canvases are worked on as three dimensional objects. However, rather than considering the interplay between solid and space as a sculpturist does, my forethought is to return to the ‘flat two dimensional picture plane’. As this reflects our ingrained version of reality – that we are tied to a flat universe yet entangled with all its probabilities in the vastness of infinite space.
I’m honoured to be selected as a finalist in the Open Category of the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize™ 2018 for my piece ‘Oxygen Captured’.
This is the third time I have been selected as a finalist in this prestigious exhibition. My entry ‘Oxygen Captured’ represents a single oxygen atom. By representing this atom at a human scale, I hope it will highlight the precious qualities oxygen has for our existence. However, the below image is not the side you will see on display. It is intended as an insight into my ‘hole’ working method. Illustrating how I can work on both sides of the canvas as one ‘complete’ expression — an aesthetic I call Quantum Brushstrokes. And an Artistic Approach that I consider is neither painting nor sculpture.
The reverse side of Oxygen Captured: The above image shows my working notes. Although this side is not on display, it illustrates my working method. An approach that I believe creates works of art that is neither a painting nor a sculpture. Front side is on display at the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize™.
See for yourself — the front side will go on display, with all the other selected finalists’ works, at the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize™ finalists’ exhibition, South Australian Museum from June 8 until August 5, 2018.
‘I’m re-imagining our universe — entangled in the void of spacetime; As the image transforms from the three dimensional to the two dimensional form, it emerges free to endlessly stretch out beyond the limits of the flattened picture plane.’
Oxygen Captured: Presented side on display at the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize™.
Malcolm’s Artistic Approach: Is it painting or sculpture?
Since 2004, I have been developing the idea that a different kind of aesthetic is created when events are deployed on a curved canvas rather than a flat ‘two dimensional’ plane. Marks created in this way take on the form of the geometric profile, so that when the results are re-stretched to the two dimensional picture plane, the aesthetic emerges. I call this approach Membrane Art — as it is the curvature profile(s) of the surfaces that underpins the development of each artwork.
Like a sculptor who works in three dimensional space, this approach allows me to engage with all dimensions, space and surface, including both sides of the surface. However, unlike a sculptor, when ‘painting’ in this way surfaces are partially, or completely, obscured from my sight. Also, unlike painting directly onto a flat picture plane, the flexibility of the curved canvas surface allows for reciprocal marks to result that cannot be achieved on a flat surface. However, the key is always to return to the two dimensional picture plane as this generates the human visual experience.
Why paint in this way?
Recognising that the surface membrane creates the basic structure for the artwork is only the beginning. Results can either echo, connect and/or entangle themselves in ways that cannot be achieved in our flat dimensional world — yet, in the end, you never truly know what you’re going to be looking at until you unroll it. It shows that the markings have come from somewhere else — where expression and sculpture unite — which is why I consider this approach neither painting nor sculpture.
Creating a different kind of abstraction is born out of a need to ‘geometrically’ define our multi-dimensional universe. It shows a world that we cannot observe directly, yet we know it exists. So the meaning may appear latent but the premise and execution of the artwork is far from it. There certainly is a sense of freedom by working in this way. Creating a gestural response that is deeply-rooted in the present context of quantum physics yet not bound by its mathematical theorems, provides an artistic licence to explore.
MA#41: My entry in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize™ 2014 finalists’ exhibition was Highly Commended.
Membrane Art holds true — regardless of whether the events made on the surface are painted, sprayed, poured, drilled, slashed, stamped, cracked or any other kind of mark-making. It is the curved nature of the membrane surface that creates the structural expressions for the work and, provided the work is presented in a flattened two dimensional form for observation, it is a consequence of the aesthetic thought.
Similar to the way things may appear in nature at the atomic level, we may not fully comprehend the methods and sequences that allow it to appear the way it is but it seems to form part of our inherent reality.
Painting today needs possibilities, to go beyond a rehashed post-Minimalist or process-based ideas from the ’60s and ’70s, and discover a beauty that it can call its own.
Here is my Artist Statement that relates to my entry ‘Oxygen Captured’ in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize™.
The complex science surrounding the properties of a particle (ref. Atomic No.8) is fundamental to the formation of the conditions that promoted life on our oxygenated earth.
The constituent parts of an atom – protons, neutrons and electrons are represented by drill holes through a furled canvas (protons, neutrons) and sawn slashes (electrons). When the canvas is re-stretched to 2D form the drill holes and saw cuts create equidistant opposing “marks” within the white surface as in the inner vastness of atomic space.
The wave-like furling of the canvas, and the passage of drill and saw marks through it, when arranged in this fashion result in the kind of symmetry that is reminiscent of atomic structure and dynamic particle relationships that are the basis of all matter.
About the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize™.
The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize commemorates the birth of the South Australian Museum’s first curator, Frederick George Waterhouse. The biennial prize is an opportunity for artists to investigate the world around them, and present their perspectives on natural science. It encourages artists to make a statement about the scientific issues facing our planet, and offers a valuable platform for them to contribute to the environmental debate. Over the years the competition has become a much loved fixture on the arts calendar, allowing artists and audiences to explore natural science through a range of creative outlets. South Australian Museum – Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize™.
Lithium Mesh: My entry in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize™ 2016 finalists’ exhibition was Highly Commended.
More about Malcolm’s approach: Membrane Art: An evolving expression.
What started out as an investigation to find an authentic aesthetic manifestation of our natural world, particularly the way we observe it, has materialised into something more concrete, Membrane Art — a practice of allowing the surface geometry to play a part in creating distinctive expression and unfolding events.
The initial proposition was to fold, or undulate, a loose canvas (take it off the frame) and paint on it – then compress the depth by stretching the canvas back onto the frame (flat picture plane). The undulating membrane would provide a re-enactment of nature (containing multidimensional values). Something akin to the geology over glacial time frames that has determined configurations of landscape. The flat plane generates the human visual experience, a visual metaphor for how we perceive.
Events form and accumulate within the space over a period of time. Then by unfolding and recognising what happened it becomes an extension of ones cognitive ability to understand the geometric conditions and the state of materials that allowed such things to occur.
The discovery of this working practice showed him that he could transform the geometry of the canvas in its un-stretched form to the stretched. Furthermore, he realised that he didn’t just have to solely use the effects of gravity. With varying degrees of manipulation he could apply marks that either control paint flow, allow holes and cuts to be made (Quantum Brushstrokes discussion), or scrapings to form, or whatever action one chooses to apply. The actual membrane itself still underpins the aesthetics of each piece, although the degree of simplicity or complexity can be regulated and enhanced.
The impact of this work from the viewers experience is quite different. The viewer experiences the results of the work as a flat picture plane rather than an accrual of the method used. The aesthetic appreciation comes through the contemplation of each piece – setting in motion a further process of deep reflection or meditation.
For more information contact me or to see my artwork Oxygen Captured in the flesh, please take a visit to the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize finalists’ exhibition at the South Australian Museum from June 8 until August 5, 2018.
Embossed quark hole showing the anti-clockwise spin direction of the membrane. Detail of Lithium mesh (bottom right – 1 of 3 holes).
Debossed quark hole showing the clockwise spin direction of the membrane. Detail of Lithium mesh (bottom right – 2 of 3 holes).
Embossed quark hole showing the anti-clockwise spin direction of the membrane. Detail of Lithium mesh (bottom right – 3 of 3 holes).
Lithium mesh: This painting/sculpture shows a number of drill holes and saw cuts. The bottom right set of 3 ‘quark’ holes (single quarks shown above) were all created at the same time or rather as one complete expression. Yet we may observe both ‘up and down’ qualities on the 2D picture plane. This is possible when the geometric state of the membrane is altered (curled) in a way to allow such events to occur before it is then unravelled to the 2D flat plane for observation – the principle idea behind Membrane Art. For more information see Quantum_Brushstrokes or Membrane Art.
Lithium mesh was highly commended at the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, 2016. Synthetic polymer on JPP Synthetic, 566gsm, 1020w x 760h mm
The photograph above is of my working notes which appears on the reverse side of my ‘Highly Commended’ art piece, Lithium mesh. Although you will not see this side of it on display at the prestigious Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2016 exhibition – it shows my thoughts and the science of my working method. For more information about the science behind it, see the following blog (Proton brushstrokes) or download the PDF file Quantum brushstrokes
Artist statement of work: Lithium mesh Quarks & leptons are the building blocks of matter — I’ve created a series of events, using curls & waves, that interpret a geometric construct of a particle’s properties. The curved structures create a framework that allows for connections and entangled systems to manifest. Finally the surface is flattened to 2D-form for observation. The viewer experiences the unravelled results — challenging perceptions that things are often not what they appear to be — a tangible expression of how nature at the very small scale may be formed, by complicated structures and events that are concealed from us.
Lithium mesh (detail): A series of quantum brushstrokes.
For the second time running, I’m a finalist in the prestigious Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2016. Prize winners will be announced at the South Australian Museum at 10:30am on Thursday 9 June 2016. Whatever happens, I’m thrilled to be part of the exhibition to be held at the South Australian Museum from 10 June – 31 July 2016. For more info: http://www.waterhouse.samuseum.sa.gov.au/
‘In art and science we are now in a delta, at the end of the long flow of progress. In a delta there is no clear direction but there may be many choices. The best we can do is to enjoy the choices that we have and to be genuinely and creatively eclectic’. Robert Bateman. MA#41, Finalist and Highly Commended, Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014. South Australian Museum
I’m very happy to announce that I was Highly Commended for work MA#41 at this year’s Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize. With the high quality of work on display, this is a very satisfying achievement. It does mean that my work will form part of a tour to the National Archives of Australia in Canberra later in the year. The exhibition opens this weekend at the SA Museum:www.bit.ly/1jV37X2
I’ve been selected as a finalist in the prestigious Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prizefor 2014 (Category A – Paintings).
This highly competitive event is one of Australia’s most prestigious art competitions. With a total prize pool over $100,000, makes it one of the richest arts’ prize in Australia, attracting many national and international entries.
The competition invites artists to investigate the world around them and present their own perspective on natural science. Since, my work (Membrane Art) has its basis in ‘science’, as you can imagine, I’m just thrilled to be recognised.
Prize winners will be announced at a media call at the South Australian Museum at 10:30am on Thursday 24 July 2014.
