Artist Patricia Piccinini.

Cafe Society
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http://www.patriciapiccinini.net/

Put simply, here’s what I see; sculptures and drawings of creatures that some may consider grotesque, often in the act of, or in the presence of, things that are ‘traditionally’ considered to be beautiful, (e.g. Breast feeding, *human *children).

Though her sculptures are surreal and ‘unearthly’; They’re random, and often “disturbing” or “disgusting” features could be considered by some not to be any more hideous than what one may find in nature, (which I know can be said for many works of other artists).

I see many of her sculptures with human like expressions, (especially their facial expressions), that evoke a certain curiosity of what they might be feeling if they were ‘real’.

I also sense a touch of wry humor.

I love this woman’s work.

Wiki entry says:

"According to the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia: “Piccinini has an ambivalent attitude towards technology and she uses her artistic practice as a forum for discussion about how technology impacts upon life. She is keenly interested in how contemporary ideas of nature, the natural and the artificial are changing our society. Specific works have addressed concerns about biotechnology, such as gene therapy and ongoing research to map the human genome…”

I’m not sure I personally make the connection between her works and Biotechnology, aside from perhaps a very broad undertone, in the sense that a lot of her work has a ‘human’ or ‘natural’ aspect we can all relate to. If her intent is to comment on, (or present us with thought provoking imagery in which we’re supposed applying our own ideas about…), Biological engineering; I’m glad it states her apparent ‘ambivalence’ on the subject.

She has many other pieces that are intriguing as well, but aren’t touched on in this post.

Thoughts? Ideas? Critiques of my critique? Would anyone like to suggest any other artists? Even if it’s a leap from what Paccinini does. I like the raw and surreal nature of her work. Already checked out Martine Corompt, Sam Jinks and Ron Mueck, as suggested by Wiki. Mueck’s work is fantastic as well.

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Never heard of her before today. Really interesting work.

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Thanks! I was hoping I would get at least a few replies since I’ve just learned of her resently as well. I knew of her work before I knew of her, as her ‘organic’ looking sculptures have been used to confuse some naive Internet folk into thinking they’re real-life beings.

I finally found out who’s work it was. :slight_smile:

I also think I appreciate such imaginative sculpting because CGI’s OFTEN taken the place of puppets and puppetry, and real life special effects, and prosthetics and makeup in films. It’s something I was always interested in.

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I came across some of her work in a small-town gallery in Victoria, Australia. It is kind of confronting in person, sitting somewhere close to the ‘uncanny valley’ we hear discussed in regard to CGI animation. I also feel a lot of Australian cultural influences, although I believe the artist is South African born.

She certainly provides a controversial (in the good way) addition to a gallery’s stable of artists.

You might like to see some of Jazmina Cininas’ work; her ‘Girlie Werewolf Project’ has some of the same humanity vs. animalistic aspects as Piccinini, although her medium is crazy-detailed reductive linoprints.

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I love Piccinini’s work. The first thing I saw was We Are Family and for me it was truly a case of a sculpture being worth a thousand words (more, actually).

Beautiful, thought-provoking stuff.

Good on you for starting this thread, MyFootsZZZ!

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I never applied the ‘uncanny valley’ aspect to it; (well, not so literally as you just had… I had mentioned that they seem “life-like”, and “organic”, with real expressions. I know what ‘uncanny’ is, I just didn’t make the link), interesting!

I’ll be sure to look more into Jazmina Cininas’ work. So far as I’ve seen, I think I’ve actually seen some of it before. It depends on how long she’s been doing work of that nature. She’s certainty quite talented. I appreciate pieces with the merging of animals and human animals, and no stranger to it.

I actually got propositioned by an art student who was well known for creating similar work, while taking art classes myself, to be a model for his picture. It would have been me crossed with a squirrel). I’m almost positive he sited a female Australian artist as inspiration, and even showed me some pictures online. Though hesitant and skeptical, I DID want to hear the guy out before making a decision… as he would keep on bothering me about it, and, you know… artists need models. After it was stated that we could do it in one of the schools bathroom stalls along with ‘cloths optional’, I declined.

The kid was talented, and showed me some great, Non-nude, works. He seemed well liked, so I wont venture to guess what type of guy he REALLY is. Still glad I said no! :D:D

Thanks!