Skywhale Hot-air Balloon Sculpture By Patricia Piccinini

Since completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 1991, Patricia Piccinini's practice has flourished and she has become known as one of Australia's leading contemporary artists. In an early interview Piccinini vividly recalled a simultaneous revulsion and fascination at the time of her first foray into pseudo-eugenics when she created a lump-like creature from raw pigskin. While the impetus to experiment with the creation of synthetic life forms remains, since then Piccinini's techniques have evolved and she is now recognised as a forerunner among artists working with contemporary media.
Piccinini has embraced a wide array of materials in her work. These include still, computer generated images, interactive CD-ROMs, immersive video and sculptural installations, and most recently, film. In the last five years Piccinini has had solo exhibitions in Australia, Japan, Peru and the Philippines. At the same time she has participated in group shows in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Wales, Korea and New Zealand. In recent years Piccinini has had work included in the biennials of Sydney and Liverpool (2002), Berlin (2001) and Kwangju (2000). In 2003 her work will represent Australia at the Fiftieth Venice Biennale.