Week 3-Materials in artists' artworks

"The Young Family", 2002-2003 by Patricia Piccinini

This artwork is made by silicone, polyurethane leather, and human hair.The reason why Patricia Piccinini uses these materials is that these materials could simulate human skin and hair to le the artwork look alive. These materials could well represent the tarnished skin with wrinkles, red blotches and the facial expression of the Young Family. The Young Family is probably made mostly by hand therefore we can see how difficult it is to made it so real.

by Ricky Swallow


The “Killing Time” is a life-sized carving of a seafood-laden dining table. This material is made of wood. Due to the fact that the subject of the artwork is killing and death, wood might be a good material to represent a dead thing. This artwork is done by sculpting. The sculpture is very exquisite because the shape of the objects is so smooth, the scales on the fish is also very clear.They indicates how good thesculpting skill of the artist is.