© National Portrait Gallery 2025
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196
Patricia Piccinini
Biography
Patricia Piccinini (b. 1965) is an artist best known for her mutant life-like creatures rendered in silicone and her iconic hot-air balloons.
1 portrait in the collection
Portrait of Patricia Piccinini, 2019
Allissa Oughtred
Portrait, inkjet print on paper
Gift of an anonymous donor 2019
Patricia Piccinini and Allissa Oughtred
'Observing the reality as it's unfolding'
Portrait story
Patricia and Allissa on making a portrait together.
Patricia T. Thompson OAM
Biography
Patricia Thelma Thompson OAM (née Amphlett, b. 1949), better known as Little Pattie, first appeared on Australian television at age thirteen in 1962.
1 portrait in the collection
Little Pattie, 1966 (printed 2019)
Ern McQuillan OAM
Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper
Purchased 2019
Creative angst, 2011
by Mark Tedeschi
Image
Patricia Piccinini
More about In the flesh artists
Patricia Piccinini was born in Sierra Leone and grew up in Canberra. She received a BFA from the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne in 1991. In 1994 she initiated The Basement Project Gallery in Melbourne, which she coordinated until 1996. Her 2003 exhibition We Are Family represented Australia at the 50th Venice Biennale.
Acceptance
More about In the flesh
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.
Empathy
More about In the flesh
Patricia Piccinini places empathy at the heart of her practice. The tenderness of the moment dominates.
More about In the flesh artists
General content
The exhibition features work from Jan Nelson, Natasha Bieniek, Patricia Piccinini, Juan Ford, Petrina Hicks, Ron Mueck, Yanni Floros, Sam Jinks, Michael Peck and Robin Eley.
Patricia 'Bambi' Tuckwell (Shmith), c. 1952
Max Dupain OBE
Portrait, gelatin silver photograph on paper
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased with funds provided by Timothy Fairfax AC 2003
In the flesh
Previous exhibition, 2014
In the flesh is an enthralling and immersive experience of contemporary art that confronts the concept of humanness and the experiences of consciousness and emotion. Featuring ten Australian artists including Jan Nelson, Patricia Piccinini, Ron Mueck and Michael Peck, the exhibition explores themes of intimacy, empathy, transience, transition, vulnerability, alienation, restlessness, reflection, mortality and acceptance.
In the Flesh
15 October 2014
Archived media releases 2014
Press releases and image downloads for media.
More about In the flesh
General content
In the flesh is realised through moments of intimacy, empathy, transitions in life and the transience of life, vulnerability, alienation, restlessness, self-reflection, mortality and acceptance.
Forget me not
Jennifer Blau
Image
WHO ARE YOU
Australian portraiture
Previous exhibition, 2022
Featuring 130 works across painting, film, photography, screen printing, sculpture, and then some – it explores our inner worlds, outer selves, intimacy, isolation, celebrity and more.