Patricia Piccinini

Patricia Piccinini is a hyper realistic sculpture artist who imagines and creates creatures and beings like we’ve never seen before. Some look similar to us, but several very different features, and others completely a figment of her imagination. Piccinini imagines what could be or might be, but isn’t. She comes up with some cute and unsettling forms that look just real enough to be believable. She has pursued an interest in the human form and its potential for manipulation through scientific intervention. She explores the possibilities from mapping of the human genome to the growth of human tissue and organs from stem cells. Her art investigates both questions of scientific progress and ethics.

Newborn, 2010, Silicone, fiberglass, human hair, feral New Zealand possum pelt 19 x 24 x 17cm

I really like Piccinini’s piece Newborn because it seems so approachable. I just want to pick the baby up and snuggle it despite its shocking features. In a lot of her pieces, the differences and similarities to the human form are unsettling, but in this piece it’s not uncomfortable at all, but rather charming. The little one’s red hair and soft dusting of freckles look so warm and inviting and the little trunk nose looks like it might be softly snoring in sleep. Its uncanny naturalism combined with features entirely unlike anything we experience today is striking. Her work makes me think about what we consider to be ‘normal’ and ‘attractive’. With genetic engineering becoming more advanced every year, I can’t help but wonder… how far off is she really? Our societal ideas of beauty change over time and someday what we consider to be largely unpleasant looking beings may very well be our new standard of beauty. It’s interesting to think about.

The Young Family, 2003, silicone, acrylic, human hair, leather, timber, 80X150X110 cm

Doubting Thomas (2008) Silicone, fiberglass, human hair, clothing, chair 90 x 100 x 53cm