Inspired by xenoliths —‘foreign’ (xeno) ‘stone’ (lith)— Held is a monolithic bronze form that splits in two to reveal a white quartz core: a fragment held within another body. This ‘foreign heart’ both connects the two bronze halves and is held by them. The gesture is tender and precarious; if the halves move apart, the stone could fall.
The quartz was gathered from the artist’s family home in Uruguay, carrying memories of distant homelands and a connection to the Earth. The bronze exterior is weathered, while the inner surfaces are smooth and warm, bearing symbols and scars.
Both bronze and rock are forged through fire, but bronze can be reshaped while stone remains fixed. Together, they speak of the delicate relationships that hold us—to one another, to time and place, and the Earth itself.
About Carolina Aguirre
Carolina Aguirre (b.1990, Santiago; lives and works in London) is an Argentinian-British artist based in London. After living in Chile, South Africa, Egypt and Wales, Aguirre graduated with a BA in Graphic Design (Moving Image), Central Saint Martins, and completed an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art (2023). She is a recipient of the Ali H. Alkazzi Scholarship Award (2021–2023) and the 2022 Kyoto City University of the Arts exchange programme.
Solo exhibitions include It Murmurs, Palmer Gallery (London, 2026), Body Takes, Ruttkowski;68 (Düsseldorf, 2025), Seismic Love, Ruttkowski;68 (Paris, 2025), and Remember member ember, Lismore Castle Arts (Ireland, 2024). Notable group exhibitions include Pace Gallery (Berlin), Städtische Galerie Offenburg (Offenburg), Thaddeus Ropac (London), and the Royal Academy of Arts (London).
About Frieze Sculpture
Frieze Sculpture returns to The Regent’s Park this autumn (16 September – 1 November 2026) at the heart of London. Curated for a fourth year by Fatoş Üstek, Frieze Sculpture’s 14th edition includes 11 leading international artists whose work will be sited throughout the park’s historic English Gardens.
Open for seven weeks, the free public art exhibition also coincides with Frieze London and Frieze Masters, which take place concurrently 14 – 18 October 2026. Extending the reach of the fairs into the public realm, the exhibition brings contemporary art to audiences throughout the autumn season and transforms the park into a site of discovery.
