Lumps and Stem Cells

About the exhibition
Lumps and Stem Cells brought together three of Patricia Piccinini’s works that investigate the ethical implications of stem cell research and genetic engineering. Central to the exhibition was a major sculptural work acquired for the Monash University Collection—Still Life with Stem Cells , 2002, that features a figure of a young girl, sitting cross-legged and gently playing with fleshy, mutant cell forms. Also featured were the digital photograph Lumpland, 1995, and the interactive CD-ROM work LumpCD from 1999 .

Situated within a cultural moment shaped by the rapid development of biotechnologies that increasingly blur the boundaries between the natural and the artificial, the exhibition marked a significant milestone in Piccinini’s  practice, which had become increasingly devoted to the speculative exploration of synthetic life forms.

MUMA Online Exhibition Archive
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^{Image: Patricia Piccinini, Still Life with Stem Cells 2002. Monash University Collection, Melbourne. Purchased 2002}