Australian mixed-media artist Malcolm Koch’s signature practice, "Membrane Art", explores how a single physical action made on a severely curved surface produces multiple, interconnected expressions once flattened. Working across linen, synthetic membranes, and copper, Koch tightly coils or folds the medium before applying marks in the form of paint, cuts, heat, or chemical reactions. Once released and flattened, what appear as separate, disparate gestures on the plane are revealed as a single, unified action governed by the curve's geometry.

This deep focus on limitation and altered perception stems from Koch's personal history, growing up with a profoundly deaf father and a deaf-blind mother. Within this practice, restriction is transformed into capability; the physical blind spots of the curved surface do not limit the work but forge entirely new ways to construct meaning. Ultimately, the finished flat surface acts as a permanent visual archive of the memory of the curve.