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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.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

The Gallery’s Acknowledgement of Country, and information on culturally sensitive and restricted content and the use of historic language in the collection can be found here.

Portrait of Patricia Piccinini

2019
Allissa Oughtred

inkjet print on paper (frame: 161.5 cm x 125.0 cm, sheet: 146.5 cm x 110.0 cm)

Patricia Piccinini (b. 1965), artist, is best known for her mutant life-like creatures rendered in silicone and her iconic hot-air balloons. After graduating in Fine Arts from the Victorian College of the Arts in 1991, Piccinini and a group of artists, including her husband Peter Hennessy, initiated the Basement Project Gallery in Melbourne. She and Hennessy have been a collaborative team since then, working out of their studio in Collingwood, Melbourne. Always beginning her creative process with drawing, Piccinini's interdisciplinary practice encompasses sculpture, installation, photography, sound and video. Her work has been represented in numerous art biennales all over the world, including the 50th Venice Biennale. When Piccinini's solo exhibition ComCiência was exhibited throughout Brazil in 2015–2016, it attracted a record-breaking 1.4 million viewers. A major survey of her work, Curious Affection, was shown at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art in 2018. Commissioned for the 2013 Centenary of Canberra, her hot-air balloon Skywhale was followed by Skywhalepapa in 2021.

Allissa Oughtred took this photograph of Piccinini wearing a Romance Was Born dress in the artist's studio in Collingwood. In the background are shelves bearing some of the moulds for the creatures that inhabit her imagined worlds made real. This portrait captures the dynamic vivacity and energy of this artist whose life and practice are characterised by curiosity and a wondrous imagination.

Gift of an anonymous donor 2019
© Allissa Oughtred

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

Artist and subject

Allissa Oughtred (age 38 in 2019)

Patricia Piccinini (age 54 in 2019)

Subject professions

Visual arts and crafts

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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.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

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