\u2018There are lots of great Skywhale tattoos. I love them,\u2019 says Patricia Piccinini. Photograph: Zi Art and Tattoos<\/p>\n
These tattooed fans are among the thousands of people Piccinini has met since 2013, when the first Skywhale took to the air, her 10 long breasts dangling from the sky. In 2021, she was joined by her partner, Skywhalepapa<\/a>, who carries their brood of babies around the country. Last year alone, the Skywhales Across Australia tour organised by the National Gallery of Australia visited six sites, from Townsville in tropical north Queensland to Albany on the blustery south-west WA coast. In 2026, the Skywhales are taking to the skies in four new locations, starting at the New England Regional Art Museum in Armidale, northern New South Wales, on 21 March.<\/p>\n The Skywhales divide opinion<\/a>, but these bulbous yet majestic beings have won the hearts of many. Often, people are so excited about the creatures visiting their community that they add their own touches to the event. In Canberra and Ballarat, local choirs performed We Are the Skywhales \u2013 a song composed by musician Jess Green \u2013 as the balloons took flight. In Alice Springs, GUTS Dance choreographed moves for the crowd to perform in celebration of the animals.<\/p>\n Patricia Piccinini inside Skywhalepapa, which was launched as Skywhale\u2019s companion in 2021. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Admirers have also reimagined the Skywhales in other forms. Piccinini has seen Skywhale-inspired outfits, hats and jewellery, and Canberra knitter Katy Griffis has developed a pattern to recreate the creatures in wool. Last year, when Piccinini arrived at the Caloundra Regional Gallery on the Sunshine Coast, she was greeted by dozens of cuddly Skywhales made by the Happy Yarners, a local knitting group. Two of those toys now live on a shelf in Piccinini\u2019s studio, a reminder of people\u2019s affection for her creation.<\/p>\n A Skywhale knit. Photograph: NGV<\/p>\n \u201cThe Skywhales were part of someone\u2019s wedding vows: \u2018I promise to take you to events like the Skywhales,\u2019\u201d she says, her eyes wide with delight. \u201cThey become part of people\u2019s identity.\u201d<\/p>\n Piccinini thinks the Skywhales evoke such strong feelings because they provide a chance to experience \u201ccollective effervescence,\u201d a term coined by the sociologist \u00c9mile Durkheim to describe the intense emotions and sense of connection that emerges when people gather for a shared purpose, like a concert or sports match. The wonder felt by a crowd watching these behemoths take flight, often just as dawn breaks, creates a sense of \u201cwe belong together,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n While the Skywhales have flown in some of Australia\u2019s most scenic spots, Piccinini believes it is the act of gathering that makes the experience special, rather than a specific site. In fact, a less spectacular setting can have its own benefits. \u201cSometimes art can be intimidating,\u201d she says. \u201cBut if it\u2019s at a sports ground, people come feeling comfortable and open. They\u2019re not thinking, \u2018Should I be here? Do I have to pay?\u2019 They know they can come in \u2013 and by the way, it\u2019s all free.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Sometimes art can be intimidating. But if it\u2019s at a sportsground, people come feeling comfortable and open.\u2019 Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake\/Getty Images<\/p>\n When Piccinini first created the Skywhale, she was inspired by the unlikely evolution of whales from hoofed animals on land to leviathans in the ocean. The balloons still prompt reflection on the miracles of natural selection, and the fact the Skywhales are a family also triggers reflections on relationships, nurturing and care.<\/p>\n But technology has advanced so far since the project started that it is now possible to see them as products of a lab, rather than of Darwinism. With scientists close to \u201cde-extincting\u201d the thylacine and the dodo<\/a>, the Skywhales could be an omen \u2013 good or bad \u2013 of the animals we might soon have the God-like power to create.<\/p>\n Skywhale and Skywhalepapa prepare to take off in Canberra. Photograph: Jamila Toderas\/Getty Images<\/p>\n For Piccinini, the more compelling question is not whether we can bring the Skywhales to life, but why we would choose to. \u201cOne of the questions I hope the work brings up is: how did they get here?\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m really interested in the future of evolution. As things die out, are we going to bring them back to life through genetic engineering? Or are we going to just create new forms? And if we are creating new forms, what are the reasons that we would want to? That\u2019s what motivates me to make all these things.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Skywhale](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Skywhale_before_taking_off--f8c7cfe9-fe77-4bc7-8103-0d1cd9282472-1.0.0000000.jpg\")
Skywhale before taking off<\/p>\n