The Letting Go

Natascha Stellmach

Natascha Stellmach’s 30-year interdisciplinary art practice examines the transformation of fears, vulnerabilities, and taboos. Weaving together image, text, and performance, her work is often informed by her background in Occupational Therapy and photographic studies. Her projects unfold through the body, as installations, and in artist books, with research, participation, and collaboration integral to her process.

With works held in international collections, Stellmach has exhibited at leading institutions including Documenta, MACBA, MAK Vienna, PICA, and ACP Sydney. Her practice has received support from numerous cultural organisations, including Creative Australia, Creative Victoria, Arts Victoria, Australia Council, The Sidney Myer Fund, Sir Edmund Herring Trust, Stiftung Kunstfonds, and Goethe-Institut. Born in Australia to German parents, Stellmach has lived and worked between coastal Victoria and Berlin since 2004.

THE LETTING GO

THE LETTING GO began in 2012 as a participatory art practice informed by intersections of visual and performance art, psychotherapy, somatic practice, Buddhism, and ritual tattooing. Central to this work is a process of tattooing without ink (a “bloodline” tattoo), undertaken to address a personal obstacle and initiate an intimate enquiry.

Following a meditation and in response to the question, “What would you like to let go of?”, the practice involves identifying, naming, embodying, and experiencing healing and impermanence in the body.

Through ongoing research, including a Master’s thesis at the University of Melbourne, it became evident that this embodied, symbolic act encourages self-awareness and a state of empowered vulnerability. From 2012 to 2020, Stellmach performed over 120 sessions with individuals in galleries and privately, including with herself.

THE LETTING GO will be published in 2026 by Kettler in both English and German. This comprehensive publication features a foreword by acclaimed actor Sandra Hüller, alongside essays by arts writer Kelly Gellatly and psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Dr Matthew McArdle. Bringing together over 120 previously unpublished stories, the book explores themes of vulnerability and empowerment through the art practice. It interweaves evocative photography, academic research, and intimate participant accounts — including selfies — to offer a deeply human portrait of what it means to let go.

An invitation to embrace “the wonder in our wounds,” THE LETTING GO will resonate with lovers of performance and body art, contemporary photography, and those engaged in conversations around mental health and wellbeing. The publication will launch in Basel in June 2026, followed by presentations in Berlin on 8 July and in Melbourne, coinciding with Stellmach’s exhibition at Linden New Art from 20 August to 8 November 2026.

Stay informed and pre-order the publication at thelettinggo.net.