Patricia Piccini: Prone, 2011, Conner Contemporary at Pulse, Miami

Patricia Piccini's Prone, 2011 - moving, delicate, beautiful, horrifying, human.

The work engages our empathy, integrity and commitment
in a freighted encounter.

Below, excerpt from an interview with the artist.

The Naturally Artificial World
Laura Fernandez Orgaz and Patricia Piccinini
(Click link above to visit artist's website and find full article).

"My interest in medical science began when I was a teenager. My mother was sick for many years before she died. During that time I hoped and prayed that science - medicine - could help our family. In the end there was no help but I still feel that I am waiting for science to help; to help me, to help my family and to help the world I live in. However, I also know that science is not perfect , no matter how clever it seems to be. Science did not help my mother. I understand that it cannot always deliver its promises. I understand that disappointment.

However - and this will sound very strange - it is not really science itself that I am interested in, as much as how it impacts on people. I think my creatures are actually more mythological than scientific. They are chimeras that I construct in order to tell stories that explain the world that I live in but cannot totally understand or control. Like most myths they are often cautionary tales, but they are also often celebrations of these extraordinary beasts. You need to remember that the gods of the ancient myths had great power but also very human motivations. They followed their own interests, with very little feeling for the effects they might have on normal people."