The Bond, 2016, silicone, fibreglass, human hair, clothing, 162cm H x 56 x 50cm, Photo source: Anyabelle
The theme of Patricia Piccinini – an exhibition of “A World of Love” is currently on display at the Arken Museum of Modern Art in Ishøj, Denmark. It is the first solo exhibition of Piccinini in the Nordic countries, through Piccinini’s small and large surrealist sculptures, videos and devices, she lets us reimagine the world.
Patricia Piccinini is an Australian artist born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1965. She has worked in various media including painting, video, sound, installation, digital printing and sculpture. She was attracted by surrealism and social realism of the nineteenth century and created a series of surrealist works in her life.
The Welcome Guest, 2011, silicone, fibreglass, human hair, clothing, taxidermied peacocks, Variable, Photo source: Anyabelle
The Australian artist’s universe is full of magic, fabulous animals, human machines and mutated humans that are endowed with new technology. Using silica gel, fiberglass, nylon, plastic and human hair, Piccinini creates realistic futuristic narratives and presents highly relevant stereotypes describing climate and technical issues while shaping new hybrid life forms with digital- and bio-technology.
In Piccinini’s world, mixed creatures interact in different everyday life, creating a fascinating and terrifying connection between the human landscape and the landscapes of nature. They blur the human, technology and nature we often divide the world into. On the surface, it is singular and frightening, but it is also tempting, magical, and when the creatures and children exchange appearances and smiles, they express mutual joy and tenderness.
At the heart of Patricia Piccinini’s practice lie themes such as caring, empathy and reproduction in a new biological borderland. In sensual, complex works Piccinini investigates how we live and forge relations in an era when the natural and the artificial connect in new ways. Her works deal with quite fundamental biological and existential issues of being and belonging. With artistic expression that balances on a razor’s edge between the disturbing and the sensitive, Piccinini draws us into a fascinating world full of loving relations among the species.