Exploring concepts of what is ‘natural’ in the digital age, Patricia Piccinini brings a deeply personal perspective to her work. Rachel Kent notes: ‘Since the early 1990s, Piccinini has pursued an interest in the human form and its potential for manipulation and enhancement through bio-technical intervention. From the mapping of the human genome to the growth of human tissue and organs from stem cells, Piccinini’s art charts a terrain in which scientific progress and ethical questions are intertwined.’
Read MorePiccinini’s work is more often than not realised as immersive environments - ranging from the computer generated forest that is Plasticology to the turbulent ocean vista of Swell. These are multi-screen DVD installations. Sandman (2002) brings together photographs, a 16mm film and large scale sculpture. Selected to represent Australia at the 2003 Venice Biennale, Piccinini created 'We are Family', a project that transformed the Australian Pavilion into a home of the future. Expressing her fascination with the relationship between what is considered natural and what is considered artificial, We are Family was critically acclaimed and ARTnews America singled her out as ‘an artist to watch.’
Patricia Piccinini’s fast growing reputation is evident in solo exhibitions at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, the Centro de Artes Visuales, Lima, the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne. She has also participated in the Berlin, Gwang’ju, Liverpool and Sydney Biennales and has exhibited widely overseas and in Australia.
Most recently, at the Artium, Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain presented a major solo museum exhibition of her work. This exhibition showcased a decade of her work from 1997 – 2007.
Text courtesy Tolarno Galleries.