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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

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Bedroom, 10.30 pm (from 'The Fitzroy Series'), 2011 by Patricia Piccinini

‘But they don’t go away. They stand, they stare … Mostly they want to look at him because he is so unlike them.’

Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (London: Bloomsbury) 2003

Patricia Piccinini’s photographic series SO2 and The Fitzroy Series explore human acceptance of difference – applied empathy – through children’s interactions with trans-species creatures. Piccinini created the siren mole ‘SO2’ as a fictional successor to the world’s first synthetic micro-organism made from inorganic chemicals – labelled ‘SO1’. The other photographic series - The Fitzroy Series features The Bottom Feeder – a creature specifically designed to eat rubbish. Piccinini works where diverse, potentially irreconcilable, elements of our humanness collide:

‘The world I create exists somewhere between the one we know and one that is almost upon us … My creatures, while strange and unsettling, are not threatening. Instead, it is their vulnerability that often most comes to the fore. They plead with us to look beyond their unfamiliarity, and ask us to accept them. It is surprising how quickly we grow used to them…’

5 portraits

1 Alley, 11.15 am (from 'The Fitzroy Series'), 2011. 2 Workshop, 7.00 pm (from 'The Fitzroy Series'), 2011. 3 Last day of the holidays (from 'The SO2 series’), 2000. 4 Social Studies (from ‘The SO2 series’), 2000. All by Patricia Piccinini.
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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