This is a still from the first work I ever encountered by Patricia Piccinini, Plasmid Region. I’d never felt such a strong sense that I was about to vomit, just from watching a video. These things mutate and change and it’s seriously, amazingly disgusting. Or it was at the time anyway. Taken along with some other work from her flooring We Are Family exhibition, she instantly became my favourite visual artist and hasn’t quite been pipped from that place yet (there’s been a few close calls, but nothing serious).

Piccinini has a retrospective exhibition on at the moment at Art Gallery Of WA that thankfully doesn’t include this, but does include some of her even more amazing recent waxwork sculpture stuff that takes these whacked out genetic design ideas and puts them into three (very real) dimensions.

Everyone who has been to this exhibition has raved about it and I was worried my high expectations would get the better of me, but I wasn’t disappointed. This is IT for me as far as visual art goes. Absolutely amazing. You have to go see it if you’re in Perth, we’re very, very lucky to have this work showing as a solo exhibit.

While you’re looking at the second section of work in the Centenary Gallery, make sure you head down to the end to the courtroom to check out the elegant gut punch of the Untitled installation in that room. On viewing that piece today, I discovered at I really hate crying in art galleries. It hasn’t happened before. It was only a little cry and nobody was around - my masculinity didn’t feel too comprimised. But seriously great work.

Can’t believe I’m writing about the Art Gallery Of WA. WTF? When did it stop sucking? Or is this temporary?

Here’s another old Piccinini still (neither of these are in the exhibit by the way, so there’s no spoiler alert needed):