Paula Turmina (b. 1991, Brazil) is a Brazilian multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in London. Paula 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, Turmina graduated from the Graphic Design Technical Course at the University of Passo Fundo in Brazil in 2012. Paula’s practice
encompasses painting, printmaking and analog films. By approaching the canvas and other surfaces as a metaphorical landscape, she explores notions of time and storytelling from a sci-fi perspective. Paula often uses natural pigments and 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.
Her work has featured in the following solo exhibitions: Terrenos Maleables, Ambar Quijano Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico (2024); Drawn (in)to the Land, Andrew Reed Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
(2024); Thriving Through (Chaos), Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2023); Membrane, SENS Gallery, Hong Kong (2023). Recent selected group exhibitions include: Surrealism and Witchcraft, Lamb Gallery, London, UK (2023); Tomorrow is Tomorrow, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2023); The Red Room, Berntson Bhattacharjee Gallery, Cromwell Place, London, UK (2022); Wish
Lush, Kravitz Contemporary, London, UK (2022); Decomposiçāo e Fetiche’, Vivian Caccuri Atelier, RJ, Brazil (2022); Summer Show 2021, Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK (2021); Spiral Trap, Lewisham Art House, London, UK (2021); Female Gaze, Kupfer Gallery at Artsy, online (2021); Up Close and Personal, The Curators x Dynamisk, online (2021); It’s a Strange World, Heloisa Genish x Vortic.art,
online (2021); Sun Worshippers, Goldmail Gallery, online (2021); London Grads Now, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2020); Casa da Escada Colorida, ArtRio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2020); Monsters, The Function Suite, London, UK (2020); RCA & SLADE Graduate Show, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, UK (2020). Paula Turmina was awarded the Zsuzsi Roboz Art Scholarship by the Chelsea Arts
Club Trust, London, UK in 2019. Paula has participated in the following residencies: a studio-based residency at Ambar Quijano Gallery in Mexico City, Mexico (September 2024); the GIRLPOWER Residency, Salles, France (June 2024); a sustainability-focused residency with Las Vioskas in Dobrzyn, Poland (July – Sep 2022); a studio-based residency at Kupfer Project Space in London, UK (Jan
– Dec 2021); a six month online residency with Casa da Escada Colorida, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (August 2020 – April 2021); Winsor & Newton Residency, London, UK (2019); and Zsuzsi Roboz Art Scholarship, Chelsea Arts Club Trust, London, UK (2019).