The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia) today unveils the 2026–2027 Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission by Sydney-based artist Nell (b. 1975, Maitland, New South Wales).
Holding Both (2026) is a life-size bronze sculpture of a woman balancing the weight of two suspended glass ghosts across her shoulders. Timeless and universal, the figure reflects women’s physical and emotional capacity to hold two things at once.
Nell has been making figurative sculptures of women for nearly two decades, and her new commission has been in development for many years. ‘I’ve been wanting to make this work for over 15 years and have been waiting for the right set of circumstances to create and present it, and the MCA Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace is the right time and place’, says Nell.
Set against the backdrop of Warrane/Sydney Harbour, Holding Both invites visitors into an intimate encounter, transforming the Sculpture Terrace into a space for the contemplation of a powerful female presence.
Drawing on the Buddhist practice of presence, art history and everyday carrying devices from different cultures, the figure embodies the form and purpose of a set of scales. Holding Both exemplifies a core tenet of Nell’s artistic practice: the co-existence of opposite states of being and holding a place where both things are true.
‘Women are often expected to balance competing demands from ourselves and society. Somehow we manage to carry the proverbial weight of the world with poise and grace’, says Nell.
Nell has a long history with the MCA, having first exhibited with the Museum in Primavera: Young Australian Artists in 1999. She is also represented in the MCA Collection with her large-scale wall installation Unlimited Radiance (2001), among other works.
Suzanne Cotter, Director, MCA Australia, said, ‘The MCA’s Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission offers a unique opportunity for artists to create new work against the iconic backdrop of Sydney Harbour/Warrane for our visitors to experience as part of an unfolding story of the possibilities of sculpture and its relationship to site. With Holding Both, Nell has created a powerful and charismatic sculptural presence that speaks to ideas of balance, care and resilience and the complexity of the female experience that I am sure will fascinate and delight all who encounter her.’
The Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission is named in honour of Mrs Loti Smorgon AO (1918–2013), who, together with her husband Victor Smorgon, donated 149 artworks to the MCA Collection. The creation of a sculpture terrace for the Museum realised a long-held desire by Loti Smorgon to support Australian sculptural works.
Holding Both (2026) is the ninth in a series of site-specific commissions for the outdoor Sculpture Terrace which overlooks one of the best views of Sydney Harbour. Past commissions include works by Ricky Swallow, 2025–2026; Kate Newby, 2024–2025; Reko Rennie, 2023–2024; Cameron Robbins, 2021–2023; Danie Mellor, 2019; Caroline Rothwell, 2016; Sangeeta Sandrasegar, 2014; and Hany Armanious, 2012.
The Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission is generously supported by Lead Patrons Ginny and Leslie Green and Vicki Vidor OAM, 2026.
Partners
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body
Nell’s Holding Both, the Loti Smorgon Sculpture Terrace Commission for 2026, is presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia on the Level 4 Terrace from 26 August 2026 – 23 August 2027.
