Nicola Anthony FRSA, MRSS (b.1984)
Known for her large-scale text sculptures and public commissions, Anthony’s practice encompasses sculpture, installation, drawing, written word and collaboration. Informed by her British Indian roots, her works explore contemporary issues by giving voice to unspoken stories and narratives that connect with history, people and places.
Drawing on both individual and collective experience, Anthony’s works explore the inherent possibilities of language using the versatility and power of the written word. Often imbuing source texts with a powerful materiality that links past and present, within her works there is an openness to re-interpretation and wordplay as a way to explore, subvert or challenge the status quo.
Her work is included in numerous public and private collections including the Goldrich Family Foundation, US; The Ingram Collection, UK; the AstraZeneca corporate collection and the University of Galway, Ireland. Significant public commissions include Remembering our Father’s Words, (2018) for Steven Spielberg’s USC Shoah Foundation, Los Angeles; National University of Ireland (commissioned by European City of Culture 2020); Our Time, Lim Chin Tsong Palace, Myanmar, (2020) and Unexpected Happiness at the National Design Centre, Singapore, (2018).
Recent permanent sculptures include Murmuration at the National University of Ireland which was unveiled in 2023 and in the same year, she created her largest artwork to date, Metamorphosis, a light projection that illuminated the 100m tall façade of Liverpool Cathedral.
Anthony was born in London in 1984 and lives and works in the UK. She graduated from Loughborough University in 2006 (supported by Tate Britain) and she was awarded the Astrazeneca Commission shortly thereafter. She represented the UK at the Dubai Expo (2020) and her work has been included in numerous exhibitions worldwide including a solo exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum (2017) and the Kuala Lumpur Biennale (2018) among others. She is a Sovereign Asian Art Prize (2021) finalist and the recipient of the New Voices of Ireland Award (2019).
Selected Exhibitions & Residencies
Visit Permanent Sculptures
A permanent public sculpture at at the O’Donoghue Centre in University of Galway. This is a stainless steel, Irish language text sculpture of starling birds with words by Irish poet Louis de Paor. Poem: ‘Fáilte Uí Dhonnchú’. Themes: crowds and swarms, isolation and loneliness, migration, Irish language, borders, barriers and feeling alone. Artwork by Nicola Anthony.
Commissioned metal sculpture for offices on Villiers Street, London UK, by British Contemporary artist Nicola Anthony. This piece is a steel, text-art sculpture of a quote from Rudyard Kipling poem ‘If’ (1895), which has been repeated, abstracted and distorted in this artwork. Rudyard Kipling lived on Villiers Street for time, in what is now called 'Kipling House'. He references the area in this poem so the artwork becomes a literary map of the area. The text also follows the geographical contour lines of the Thames River, taking this as a start point for the direction of flow of the text.
The Opposite of Love is Indifference is a sculpture about love and against hate. It is about a journey. It is about life. The sculpture is stainless steel, designed to reflect the beautiful Aspen skies and the Chabad’s surroundings, as well as the faces of those who view it. The organic spiralling shape of the sculpture represents a journey, progress, and the path of life unfolding.
UNEXPECTED HAPPINESS is a text sculpture at National Design centre, Singapore, by artist Nicola Anthony. Supported by Design Singapore, organised by Keepers Studio, and partnered by Funan. This artwork collected stories of serendipity from hundreds of people nationwide, to become an artwork about the human spirit at the edge of joy and sorrow.
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