Patricia Piccinini

Place: Freetown

Born: 1965

Biography:

Patricia Piccinini is an Australian artist born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1965. She works in various media, including painting, video, sound, installation, digital prints, and sculpture. Her works often focus on 'unexpected consequences', exploring concerns surrounding bio-ethics and helping to visualize future dystopias. In 2003, Piccinini represented Australia at the 50th Venice Biennale with a hyperrealist sculpture of her distinctive anthropomorphic animals. In 2016, she was named the most popular contemporary artist in the world by The Art Newspaper after a show in Rio de Janeiro attracted over 444,000 visitors. Patricia Piccinini's name is of Latin origin, derived from the Latin word patrician, meaning 'noble'. It is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. In Portuguese and Spanish-speaking Latin-American countries, the name Patrícia/Patricia is common, pronounced [paˈtɾisiɐ] in Portuguese and [paˈtɾisja] in Spanish. In Catalan and Portuguese, it is written Patrícia, while in Italy, Germany, and Austria, Patrizia is the form, pronounced [paˈtrittsja] in Italian and [paˈtʁiːtsi̯a] in German. In Polish, the variant is Patrycja, pronounced [paˈtrɨt͡sja]. It is also used in Romania, in 2009 being the 43rd most common name for baby girls.