Nicola Turner was invited by Ann Christopher and the Summer Exhibition Committee 2024 to engage with the statue of Sir Joshua Reynolds in the Annenberg Courtyard at the Royal Academy of Arts.

In her practice she uses ‘dead’ matter including wool and horsehair, a material salvaged from old mattresses and furniture, therefore absorbed with a lived history from both its time as a domestic object and as part of an animal. Material with such agency, amassed together, emanates a powerful presence.

She explores the blurred boundaries between life and death. In this state of confusion and unsettlement an affirmation of life’s forces arises. Nicola drew on these two paintings to create a site responsive installation that creates a new space between it and the sculpture of Reynolds.

Utilising recycled pianos from a tired, old piano, Nicola took grand piano legs and placed them at the foundation of her work.