Paula Turmina, Hold it Twice, 2023

Born in 1991 in Nova Prata, Brazil. Lives and works in London, UK.

Paula Turmina is a Brazilian multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses painting, printmaking, analog films, and writing. By approaching the canvas and other surfaces as a metaphorical landscape, she explores notions of time and storytelling from a sci-fi perspective. Paula uses, almost exclusively, variations of red in her recent paintings. The application of this colour is a nod to her homeland and the Brazilwood Tree, a strong natural resource which has been exploited and exported as timber since the 16th century. Her canvases depict scenes of a post-apocalyptic world with figures who seem to merge into the nature around them. Paula is interested in the human relationship to the land, speculating on the future of the Earth and the absurdity of political discourse and colonial history.

Paula Turmina completed her BA in Painting at Wimbledon College of Fine Arts in 2016 and graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2021 with an MA in painting. Furthermore, Paula Turmina graduated from the Graphic Design Technical Course at the University of Passo Fundo in Brazil in 2012.

Solo Exhibitions include “Thriving Through (Chaos)”, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, 2023; “Membrane”, SENS Gallery, (Hong Kong, 2023). Group Exhibitions include “Tomorrow is Tomorrow”, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, (London, 2023); “Nature Holds a Mirror”, Ambar Quijano, (online, 2023); “There is Nothing New Under the Sun. but there are New Suns”, Mama Projects, Bienvenue Art Fair, (Paris, 2022); “In transit, our memory fragments”, Chelsea Space, (London, 2022); “The Red Room”, Berntson Bhattacharjee Gallery, (London, 2022); Wish Lush, Kravitz Contemporary, (London, 2022); “Decomposiçāo e Fetiche”, Vivian Caccuri Atelier, (Rio de Janeiro, 2022); “Spiral Trap”, Lewisham Art House, (London, 2021); “Up Close and Personal”, The Curators x Dynamisk, (online, 2021); “It’s a Strange World”, Heloisa Genish x Vortic.art, (online, 2021); amongst others.

Paula Turmina was awarded with the Zsuzsi Roboz Award by Chelsea Arts Club in 2020. Paula was awarded a residency programme with Las Vioskas, Sustainability focused residency (July – Sep 2022) Dobrzyn, Poland (2022); Kupfer Project Space – Studio based (Jan – Dec 2021) London, UK (2021); Casa da Escada Colorida – 6 months online residency (August 2020 – April 2021) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2021); Winsor &Newton Residency, London, UK (2019); Zsuzsi Roboz Art Scholarship, Chelsea Arts Club Trust, London, UK (2019).

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Paula Turmina

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