Natalia Zagorska-Thomas
b. in Warsaw, Polandlives and works in London, UK
Natalia Zagorska-Thomas is a Polish-British visual artist working in London who makes mixed media work out of everyday, discarded objects. She is also an art conservator specializing in textiles and fibre as well as the owner and curator of Studio ExPurgamento, a small independent gallery in Camden Town, dedicated to showcasing work by international artists along with their British counterparts.
She holds a BA in Fine Art from Central St Martins School of Art and Design and an MA in Textile Conservation from Textile Conservation Centre, Southampton University.
Her art practice is strongly informed by her experience of conservation and working within the museum sector. As a textile conservator she has worked freelance at various institutions including the Royal Academy, Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of London, Wawel Royal Castle, Krakow, Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, The National Trust, Zenzie Tinker Textile Conservation Ltd. and the Royal Collection.
Natalia Zagorska-Thomas’s practice navigates a tension between conservation and creation. As a conservator, she aims to help objects which have become museum artefacts to survive, preserving their history and relevance. Yet as an artist, she questions the boundary between preservation and reinterpretation, exploring the rules according to which value of material culture is assigned.
Selected solo exhibitions include:
Effectos Personales, Centro de Artes Plásticas y Diseño (Havana, 2018); ExPurgamento, Richard Booth’s Gallery (Hay-on-Wye, 2011).
Selected group exhibitions include:
Extraordinary Museum Display, Hastings Museum (Hastings, 2025); Whisper Down the Lane, Sala 752 (Rzeszów, 2025); The Back of the Treasure, Galerie im Körnerpark (Berlin, 2025); Elective Affinities: 100 Years of the Swedenborg Society, Swedenborg House (London, 2025–2026); site-specific sculpture for HACK8558, Artist Takeover of the former Facebook Headquarters, in association with Bow Arts, 125 Shaftesbury Avenue (London, 2025); Dirty Laundry, public installation for KISMIF 2024, University of Porto, Arts Department (Porto, 2024); The Strange Quotidian (curator and co-exhibitor), Isolo Gallery (Verona, 2023); International Festival of Art Performance, Art Deco Museum (Płock, 2023); Bookworks, an artist-book project with Cuban and European artists at CPAP (Havana), Expurgamento, and Bookartbookshop (London, 2023); Mother’s Ruin, 35 Blumen (Krefeld, 2023) and The Old Mill House Gallery (London, 2022); The Camden Town Hoard, with the London Group, St John’s Churchyard, Waterloo (London, 2022); Domestica Eccentrica (curator and co-exhibitor), One Paved Court (Richmond, 2021); For God and Country, installation with the London Group, St John’s Churchyard, Waterloo (London, 2018); Fashion in Motion (catwalk show/exhibition for Arkadius), Fashion Court, V&A Museum (London, 1997); Clothes of the Unwearable, Sotheby’s (London, 1997); Pick of the Year, Affordable Art Fair, Royal Festival Hall (London, 1995).
Selected publications and features:
Clothes You’ll Never Wear: 30 Stories of Dress, ed. Lito Apostoliakou (2024); Blue Notebook, UWE Centre for Print Research (interview with Tanya Peixoto on the Camden Town Hoard project, Summer 2024); Book of Emotions, Redstone Press (2023); Artists’ Book Yearbook (March 2022); Magazyn Literacki (September 2022); The Camden Town Hoard (2022); Noon Magazine (2019); Blush, Jack Robinson & Natalia Zagorska-Thomas (2018); Findings on Light (2016).
RELATED EXHIBITIONSIn Absentia, Tabula Rasa London, Dec 2025
She holds a BA in Fine Art from Central St Martins School of Art and Design and an MA in Textile Conservation from Textile Conservation Centre, Southampton University.
Her art practice is strongly informed by her experience of conservation and working within the museum sector. As a textile conservator she has worked freelance at various institutions including the Royal Academy, Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of London, Wawel Royal Castle, Krakow, Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, The National Trust, Zenzie Tinker Textile Conservation Ltd. and the Royal Collection.
Natalia Zagorska-Thomas’s practice navigates a tension between conservation and creation. As a conservator, she aims to help objects which have become museum artefacts to survive, preserving their history and relevance. Yet as an artist, she questions the boundary between preservation and reinterpretation, exploring the rules according to which value of material culture is assigned.
Selected solo exhibitions include:
Effectos Personales, Centro de Artes Plásticas y Diseño (Havana, 2018); ExPurgamento, Richard Booth’s Gallery (Hay-on-Wye, 2011).
Selected group exhibitions include:
Extraordinary Museum Display, Hastings Museum (Hastings, 2025); Whisper Down the Lane, Sala 752 (Rzeszów, 2025); The Back of the Treasure, Galerie im Körnerpark (Berlin, 2025); Elective Affinities: 100 Years of the Swedenborg Society, Swedenborg House (London, 2025–2026); site-specific sculpture for HACK8558, Artist Takeover of the former Facebook Headquarters, in association with Bow Arts, 125 Shaftesbury Avenue (London, 2025); Dirty Laundry, public installation for KISMIF 2024, University of Porto, Arts Department (Porto, 2024); The Strange Quotidian (curator and co-exhibitor), Isolo Gallery (Verona, 2023); International Festival of Art Performance, Art Deco Museum (Płock, 2023); Bookworks, an artist-book project with Cuban and European artists at CPAP (Havana), Expurgamento, and Bookartbookshop (London, 2023); Mother’s Ruin, 35 Blumen (Krefeld, 2023) and The Old Mill House Gallery (London, 2022); The Camden Town Hoard, with the London Group, St John’s Churchyard, Waterloo (London, 2022); Domestica Eccentrica (curator and co-exhibitor), One Paved Court (Richmond, 2021); For God and Country, installation with the London Group, St John’s Churchyard, Waterloo (London, 2018); Fashion in Motion (catwalk show/exhibition for Arkadius), Fashion Court, V&A Museum (London, 1997); Clothes of the Unwearable, Sotheby’s (London, 1997); Pick of the Year, Affordable Art Fair, Royal Festival Hall (London, 1995).
Selected publications and features:
Clothes You’ll Never Wear: 30 Stories of Dress, ed. Lito Apostoliakou (2024); Blue Notebook, UWE Centre for Print Research (interview with Tanya Peixoto on the Camden Town Hoard project, Summer 2024); Book of Emotions, Redstone Press (2023); Artists’ Book Yearbook (March 2022); Magazyn Literacki (September 2022); The Camden Town Hoard (2022); Noon Magazine (2019); Blush, Jack Robinson & Natalia Zagorska-Thomas (2018); Findings on Light (2016).
RELATED EXHIBITIONSIn Absentia, Tabula Rasa London, Dec 2025
Tabula Rasa Gallery (London)
Unit One, 99 East Road,
Hoxton, London
N1 6AQ
Unit One, 99 East Road,
Hoxton, London
N1 6AQ
Tuesday - Saturday 12:00 - 18:00 | Sunday - Monday Closed
© 2022 Tabula Rasa Gallery