Exhibition: Hope by Patricia Piccinini
Project 01 Identity and Space
Featuring sculptural, photographic and filmic works by the Australian artist Patricia Piccinini, the immersive exhibition HOPE taps into our hopes and fears about the impact of science on humanity. Her hyperrealistic and surreal works, often rooted in art historical forms, explore various “unexpected consequences”, whether negative or positive. HOPE raises important questions about the nature of history, progress, and technology, and ponders our collective ability to create warm and caring relationships and to live lovingly with each other.
Silicone, resin, hair
26 × 25.8 × 25 cm
Two figures rest against one another, cheek by jowl. It is uncertain whether they are separate or even joined together. In this respect, The Loafers are representative of the artist’s interest in the dissolution of boundaries: the boundaries between humans and animals but also separate individual creatures. At the point where contemporary technology meets surrealism, the artist explores the line between the self and the other—as well as notions of difference and hybridity.
Silicone, fibreglass, human hair
25 × 60 × 60 cm
Prone is inspired by leaf-nosed bats and their incredible abilities of sound and vision. The artist combines the bat’s unusual nose and ears with a human infant; the nose also recalls the nose of a pig, just as the hybrid creature sports the hooves of a pig. At once shocking and tender, this sculpture poses the ethical dilemmas of genetic engineering taken to extremes. While gene-editing could prevent genetic diseases as well as enhance human abilities, it may come at the cost of dramatic consequences which would in the end challenge our very humanity.
Silicone, hair
12 × 24 × 28 cm
The Offering is a work that the artist created specifically for visitors to touch. Her works, detailed and realistic, often make people wonder if they feel as real as they look; however, the works are also very vulnerable to damage from handling. In response to this desire to touch, usually thwarted, Piccinini presents The Offering—and over the course of the exhibition, the work will be sacrificed for the sake of visitors’ curiosity, as the work becomes damaged, losing its hair and colouring.
Silicone, fibreglass, steel, human hair, clothing, chairs 220 × 140 × 48 cm
Entering the room, the visitor is faced with a young figure peering curiously down from high above a precarious stack of massproduced chairs. Perhaps he is observing or even judging the people below; or maybe he is hiding or even trapped up there. Patricia Piccinini often likes to depict children, for the potential of innocence and vulnerability they represent—which in turn provide metaphors for our collective hopes and concerns.
2021
Silicone, fibreglass, hair, clothing
168 × 130 × 90 cm
The Supporter re-imagines new models of human-animal interactions. Inspired by sightings of peregrine falcons, a once-wild species now living in Melbourne’s business district, Piccinini explores the concept of “wild cities”: places that represent a symbiotic relationship between animals and humans. Loosely referenced is the ancient Greek story of Atlas, who was condemned to hold up the skies for eternity on his shoulders. However, in a subversion of Atlas, the androgynous figure of The Supporter uses its legs and feet to provide a strong, stable environment for fluffy baby birds, proposing an alternative story of interspecies collaboration.
Silicone,
fibreglass, hair
103 × 95 × 128 cm
Kindred deconstructs the age-old stereotype that humans are fundamentally different from animals. This stereotype is at the root of ecological destruction, with natural habitats of animals destroyed for our benefit—one example being the orangutan, a victim of deforestation despite sharing 97% of DNA similarity with humans. Seen here is an orangutan mother with her two babies, all three of them resembling humans in varying levels of uncanniness. Yet these small differences do not distract from their overall appearance as a nurturing family: a metaphor for how animals and humans are more related than we think.
Silicone, fibreglass, resin, hair
29 × 59 × 60 cm
Safely Together is part of a series featuring genetically engineered creatures as a response to the ecological crisis. The inspiration behind this particular work is the pangolin, a critically endangered
species that is hunted for its scales. Imagining a scenario where the pangolin would no longer be trafficked, the scaly exterior is replaced by a hard, automotive shell. A newborn pangolin is
protected by an older pangolin, and together they are encased in a human-made shelter, dissolving the boundaries between the artificial and the natural. Much like the armour of knights or
blankets that swaddle babies, the work taps into the relationship between fragility and technology, and our desires to protect.
Silicone, fibreglass, hair, acrylic nails
80 × 45 × 42 cm
La Brava is inspired by great divas of music, from Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland to soul singer Tina Turner. Symbolising confidence and beauty, the hybrid creature sports long red nails, long eyelashes, and glossy hair, while her body is the front and back of a running shoe. This figure speaks to Piccinini’s interest in futuristic transhuman forms, in the vein of philosopher Donna Haraway’s writings on the body and feminist theory.
Silicone, fibreglass, hair
54 × 70 × 60 cm
Two hybrid creatures sit together, one cradling the other. With elongated snouts and a tail curled around their human-like figures, they resemble the extinct thylacine—commonly known as the
Tasmanian tiger—a species that once roamed Mainland Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. In this work, the artist contemplates the resurrection of this species, a real-life situation that scientists are currently exploring. In order to achieve a successful resurrection, the genetic material of another animal is required; the eventual result will likely be a hybrid creature and not an exact
replica. What are the ethical implications of proceeding with this process, while there are other endangered species in need of protection? The work asks larger questions around evolution and progression, but still through the lens of empathy.
Silicone, fibreglass, human hair, clothing
150 × 150 × 110 cm
Weaving themes of maternal care with environmental concern, No fear of depths features an Australian humpback dolphin/humanoid hybrid cradling a hyper-realistic sculpture of the artist’s own daughter, Roxy. This moving scene places value on the importance of mothering relationships and also imagines a nonhuman creature caring for a human child. As with many of Piccinini’s works, she also draws attention to the vulnerability of the threatened species, reminding us that the Australian humpback dolphin leads complex family lives and is not so different from us.
Silicone, hair, fibreglass
42 × 168 × 65 cm
The creature of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein receives an alternate happy ending in The Couple. Upending the narrative of the science-fiction classic, the monster’s mate has escaped the laboratory; instead of his tragic ending he finds romantic love and a comfortable home. The mixed-species Foundling is placed near the couple, as if extending the aura of their safe, comfortable home also to him. In this way, Piccinini establishes a world in which all creatures, even artificial or hybrid life forms, can find agency, love, and contentment.
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