Skywhales: Patricia Piccinini

Meet the artist

I grew up in Canberra and I first realised I wanted to be an artist when I visited the NGA as a teenager. I now live and work in Melbourne and, as an artist, I am interested in what it means to be alive in the present day. I hope to create a world somewhere between the one we know and one that is almost upon us, and to focus on the emotional lives of the new creatures that might emerge. I am interested in our relationships with them and with nature. I don’t consider myself an expert and I have more questions than answers. I work with a studio of people to help make my work, starting with my drawings and ending up with a sculpture, or a video or even a hot air balloon.

Skywhalepapa, 2020, is a new work that continues my relationship with the people of Canberra that began with Skywhale in 2013. Together they form a skywhale family that will take to the air over Canberra and go on to explore the country and the world. Commissioned as part of the Balnaves Contemporary Series, Every Heart Sings is a project that talks about nature, family, evolution, care and wonder. They float into our lives to make us smile and think. There is also an exhibition in the Tim Fairfax Learning Gallery and Studio that follows their journey.

I am excited to see what students think, say and create as a result of the time they spend with this resource. For me the artwork is just the beginning of the journey, the destination is the conversation that happens when people see them.

"We need sustainability as much as the world does, because nature can go on without us but we cannot go on without nature."

PATRICIA PICCININI

Responding

• How do humans depend on the environment? How does the environment depend on humans?
• How has the artist Patricia Piccinini combined animal and human in her works of art?
• Did you know that humans are mammals? Research some examples of mammals that live in the ocean, freshwater, on or below the earth, in the treetops and even in the sky. What are some things that we have in common with apes, our closest animal relatives?
• How does the knowledge that humans are animals affect your feelings and responsibilities towards other animals?

Making

• Create a learning map to explain your ideas about the relationships between humans, other animals and the environment. Use lines, shapes and symbols to show the connections between you, humans, animals and the environment.
• Create a drawing or painting that shows how you see yourself in connection with other animals and the environment.

"Difference is something to embrace and to marvel at, not to fear.”

PATRICIA PICCININI

Responding

• Patricia Piccinini is bothered that we have a word for the fear of difference (xenophobia), but not the love of difference. Invent your own word for the love of difference and write a definition describing what it means and why it’s important.
• While Piccinini uses her imagination to invent some amazing creatures like Bootflower (pictured above), her work Eulogy is dedicated to a real animal that she thinks is just as amazing. Have you ever seen or heard of a blobfish? What is your first reaction to Eulogy? Research blobfish to find out more about where they live, how their bodies have adapted to suit their environment and what are the threats to their survival.
• Why do you think we need to protect endangered animals like the blobfish? In what ways might physical appearance affect how we treat other animals?

Making

• Create a work of art that draws attention to a threatened or endangered animal. Focus on an animal that you are not familiar with or that you don’t immediately find ‘cute’.
• Using cut paper, design a flag that symbolises and celebrates diversity. Use bold colours and shapes to ensure your design can be seen from far away. Work with your class to bring your flags together in a display or a parade.

“The Skywhale has breasts which are a reminder of her potential to give birth and sustain life. Skywhalepapa is presented as an active and engaged father: a reminder that care and nurture is open to all, and also everyone’s responsibility.”

PATRICIA PICCININI

Responding

• Discuss what it means to nurture or care for another person or living thing. How is nurturing expressed in Piccinini’s sculptures The bond and No fear of depths?
• How do Skywhalepapa and Skywhale share the responsibility of caring for their children? Research some of the different ways that other animals, such as seahorses and cassowaries give birth and care for their young.
• Who are the most nurturing people that you know and what have they done to care for you? How has this influenced how you take care of others? Have you ever helped to care for another person, animal or plant? What do you think it would be like to care for a child? Write a short statement arguing why parents have the hardest job of all.

Making

• Construct your own nest, incorporating recycled or natural materials where possible. Think about which materials and textures will create a warm and comforting environment. What shapes or forms might best communicate protection and care?

“Are Skywhales any more impossible than blue whales - the largest animals that ever lived which evolved from a small horse-like creature that went back into the ocean?”

PATRICIA PICCININI

Responding

• The natural process of evolution explains how lifeforms very gradually change and develop in response to their environment. Research the evolution of your favourite animal and share your findings with a partner – how has your chosen animal changed over time? What special features make your animal well-suited to the environment where it lives?
• We are living in a time where humans are changing nature, for example by giving people artificial hearts and titanium hips, and genetically modifying plants to create blue roses and sweeter strawberries. What do you think is a good enough reason for humans to change nature and where should we stop?

Making

• Create a flipbook or a stop motion animation that makes the process of evolution visible. Invent your own imaginary animal and show how it has evolved and transformed to look the way it does. Whether you choose to make a flipbook or use an animation app, you will need to make lots drawings of your animal and slowly introduce small changes as you go along.

“The Every heart sings project exists to bring people together, whether it is to celebrate the skywhales taking off, or help with putting them away, or just see them randomly as they fly overhead.”

PATRICIA PICCININI

Responding

• Discuss what community means to you. Who is your community? Are you part of more than one community? What are some of the benefits of community? How can we foster community?
• How might Patricia Piccinini’s Skywhale and Skywhalepapa help to build community?
• Consider the barriers that make it difficult for some people to feel part of a community. Who in our society might not enjoy the benefits of connecting with a community?

Making

• Work in small groups to come up with an idea for a work of art that brings people together. Remember that works of art don’t have to be physical objects, for example you might create a performance, action, event or project. Consider what you can do to include people who might otherwise be left out. Share your ideas and decide on one that your class can collaborate on.

“Sometimes we do need to imagine the world as we wish it was, not so that we can escape from “the world as it is” but so that we can get the strength to work towards the way that it should be.”

PATRICIA PICCININI

Responding

• What artificial and natural elements can you see in Patricia Piccinini’s work The stags? Watch the video of Piccinini talking about The stags. What do you think the world would be like if machines had personality and empathy?
• What do you imagine a skywhale’s life would be like? Write a short story from the perspective of a skywhale. Start by wondering what do skywhales like to do, what do they eat, how do they communicate and what would they think about seeing humans for the first time?
• Patricia Piccinini is inspired by chimeras – creatures that combine parts of more than one kind of animal. Can you think of any examples of chimeras from Greek mythology?

Making

• How do you imagine the world in the future? Use collage materials to create a chimera. Start by choosing one animal with qualities that you think will be necessary in the future and add parts of other animals to show how it might adapt to suit the changing environment.
• Hold an exhibition of the work that your class has created. You might like to give your chimera a name and explain its special qualities to your class.

Curriculum Connections

Skywhales: Every heart sings learning resource is designed to encourage primary school students to explore concepts of love, care and responsibility in relation to ourselves, families, the wider world and other living beings. It provides rich scope to investigate family, community and interspecies relationships with relevance to the Sustainability cross-curriculum priority.

The six key themes include Sustainability, Diversity, Nurture, Evolution, Community and Imagination. In line with the Visual Arts curriculum strands, student engagement with each theme promotes critical and creative thinking and inspires active learning through making, writing, discussing and reflecting.

Teachers may adapt or extend this resource for use with secondary students, recognising learning opportunities across the Arts, the Sciences: biodiversity, sustainability and ethics, and the Social Sciences: community structure, rights and responsibilities of individuals and communities, and human impact on the wider environment.

The NGA values the feedback of students and teachers on the resources we produce. To share student work or your feedback please email learning@nga.gov.au.

Themes

Sustainability, Diversity, Nurture, Evolution, Community and Imagination.

Level Details

Teachers may adapt or extend this resource for use with secondary students