Patricia Piccinini – Magical & Bizarre

The art museum where Patricia Piccinini’s peculiar world is on exhibition says the Australian artist’s hyper-realistic sculptures are magical, alluring, disturbing and bizarre. No question there. 

Patricia Piccinini / The Carrier 2012 (installed at GOMA 2018) / Silicone, fibreglass, human hair, animal fur / 170 x 115 x 75cm / Lyons Collection, Melbourne / Courtesy: The artist / © The artist

Drawing from science fiction, folktales and surrealism, Piccinini’s stories weave together elements from biology and other sciences. The installation describes a futurist universe with mythical creatures, animal machines and mutated humans living side by side.

Patricia Piccinini, The Welcome Guest, 2011. Courtesy the artist.

Her themes include climate change and high-technology, forces that are changing today’s world, with artificial intelligence and genetic manipulation potentially creating new species.

The Young Family, silicone, polyurethane, leather, plywood, human hair, 80 x 150 x 110 cm. Photo Graham Baring. Courtesy the artist.

Piccinini also challenges cultural norms of body and beauty: Why do we see only certain features as beautiful and familiar? She invites contemplation about the possible connections future technologies will create across species.

Patricia Piccinini in her studio in front of Kindred 2018. © Photo: Hilary Walker

See more about Kindred (above) and the artist at Queensland Art Gallery, here.

The artist’s website, here.

The website of ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, near Copenhagen, where the current exhibition, A World of Love, runs through September, 2019 here.

The artist’s Instagram, here.

Image at the top of the post:  “The Long Awaited,” 2008. Silicon, fibreglass, human hair, plywood, leather, clothing, 92 x 151 x 81 cm. ARKEN Museum of Modern Art website.

WANT MORE INFO? This video is from Piccinini’s 2018 exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery.