OXFORD ALUMNA NOMINATED FOR TURNER PRIZE

Oxford alumna Kira Freije (St Hilda’s, 2008) has been nominated for the prestigious Turner Prize, alongside three other artists.

The announcement was made by Tate Britain on 23 April, just ahead of Freije’s exhibition in Oxford of the nominated solo work 'Unspeak the Chorus', which opens at Modern Art Oxford on 23 May and runs until 16 August.

Paul Hobson, Director of Modern Art Oxford, says: 'This is a landmark moment for Kira Freije, and we are thrilled that Modern Art Oxford will be presenting her work at such a significant point in her career. Kira studied at Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art, so there is a real sense of homecoming in welcoming her back to the city just as she is announced as a Turner Prize nominee. We are proud to share this ambitious new exhibition with audiences in Oxford and in particular with the University community, and we look forward to opening the gallery doors this May.'

Featuring a new body of work co-commissioned with the Hepworth Wakefield, in collaboration with KINDL, Berlin, the exhibition is Freije’s first major solo presentation in the UK, bringing together around 20 hand-welded, life-size metal figures, with the artist expanding her practice through the inclusion of animals and textiles. The resulting work transforms the Upper Gallery into an immersive and emotionally charged environment in which human and animal worlds meet.

Freije’s hand-welded metal figures, arranged in intimate groupings, suggest fragments of a story without ever resolving into a fixed narrative. United by a palpable sense of kinship, the figures appear at once connected and self-contained – celebrating, loving, grieving, guiding, resting, reaching and exhaling. While subtle interactions unfold between the sculptures, Freije deliberately leaves the scene open, inviting viewers to bring their own interpretations and emotional responses to the work.

To create her life-size sculptures, Freije casts her own hands and feet in aluminium before constructing each figure from the ground up. Welding strips of steel together in a process akin to drawing an outline in space, she builds skeletal forms that are at once delicate and robust. Faces, or fragments of faces, are cast from people close to her; fabric, found materials and hand-blown glass elements are incorporated to complete materially layered scenes that combine strength and vulnerability.

Developed in collaboration with lighting designer Matt Daw, 'Unspeak The Chorus' responds directly to the distinctive architecture of Modern Art Oxford’s Upper Gallery, using atmospheric lighting and staging to heighten the emotional presence of the sculptures.

The other three artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2026 are Simeon Barclay, Marguerite Humeau and Tanoa Sasraku. An exhibition of their work will be held at Teesside University’s MIMA (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art) from 26 September 2026 to 29 March 2027. The winner will be announced on 10 December 2026 at an award ceremony at MIMA.