While I'm racing to keep on track with a commission I knew I had to go and see Patricia's show before it ended (despite many Covid extensions). Finally, an Easter holiday class in the mold room ensured I couldn't do any work that day, so I flew down to Melbourne for the day. I met Patricia while she was on a residency at the Canberra Glassworks. I wanted to experience the realisation of her ideas, ones I had the privilege of looking at in sketches, hearing about in conversation, and seeing develop.
I had an early flight, which ensured time to walk in the rain in search of breakfast. I ended up at White Mojo and ate delicious mushroom croquettes and coffee.
The weather had cleared by the time I had scraped my plate clean and I wandered back across the city to Flinders Street Station where A Miracle Constantly Repeated is on show in the Ballroom. You enter the exhibition through a door on the side of the street, an Alice in Wonderland sort of door, and climb many stairs (or use the lift) to reach these rooms that have been locked away for years.
The exhibition flows through many rooms and as you move through the spaces an atmosphere builds. I can see the railway tracks and city buildings through peeling windows - a new perspective that heightens the believability of the hybrid creatures that inhabit this space. Frozen in time perhaps; fleshy, hairy, chimera find shelter from the elements or judging gazes in the abandoned rooms. Techbeasts wrestle while surrounded by porcelain orchids and shiny parrot coloured hybrids pose on filing cabinets and office furniture.
An explosion of colour, music, light and faded grandeur fills the last room, the Ballroom. Here the neon and mirror, sound, and bright glassy forms vibrate against the crumbling Victorian architecture, an in-between moment where you can step sideways into another world where these forms come to life.
If you do visit please listen to the audio of Patricia talking about her work (you can also read a transcript online).
I also visited the National Gallery Of Victoria, Federation Square, listened to live music, and enjoyed some sumptuous sushi before heading back home.
Images of the exhibition A Miracle Constantly Repeated by Patricia Piccinini.
