About the artists and artworks

Patricia Piccinini
The artist I chose is Patricia Piccinini. She is an Australian artists. She works with a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, video, sound, installation and digital prints.

The sculpture chosen is called Nest and was exhibited in Art37 Basel, Switzerland in 2006. The materials used are ABS plastic and automotive paint. The sculpture reflects her interests in world issues such as bioethics, biotechnologies and the environment. She explored the ideas of nature in digital ages in her sculpture. It is speculated she used the method of plastic injection molding and painted the prototype with automotive paint to give the technological effect.

Sidney Nolan
The other I chose is Sidney Nolan. He is arguably Australia’s most significant and internally acclaimed artist. Sidney Nolan’s 1946–47 Ned Kelly series is one of the greatest sequences of Australian paintings of the 20th century. Ned Kelly that is brushranger in his armour has become an iconic Australian image. It was a way for Nolan to paint the Australian landscape in new ways, with the story giving meaning to the place. Nolan said “the Kelly’s paintings are secretly about myself” and “it is an inner history of my emotions”.

This artwork is painted on hard composition board using a high-grade enamel paint called Ripolin. More often used on cars and boats, the paint was extremely fast-drying and therefore demanded an immediacy of execution. According to Dr Brian Kennedy, Director of the National Gallery of Australia 1997-2004, Ripolin allowed a great colour range and, as it was very fluid, the canvas or board had to be lying flat while it was being painted.