In Patricia Piccinini’s Surrogate (for the northern hairy nosed wombat) a placid creature harbors six wombats in varying stages of development in pouches that run along its armoured back. Piccinini’s endearing creature, part mammal, part reptile and part hobgoblin, is a mother by proxy, a seemingly benign host for the threatened indigenous species of the northern hairy nosed wombat. Surrogate is replete with its own habitat: a futuristic looking baby blue canopy of padded leather. This synthetic home informs us that the creature’s home is not in the natural environment, an anachronism in the world of bio-medical technology.

Surrogate (for the northern hairy nosed wombat) continues Piccinini’s ambivalent interrogation of new science. Could we save ourselves, and the species we have threatened, through genetic engineering? Her choice of an endangered, near extinct, species renders the debate as alarmingly prophetic. In fact scientists are currently experimenting with the use of the southern hairy nosed wombat as a host for its rare cousin, the northern hairy nosed wombat. Surrogate (for the northern hairy nosed wombat) is fascinating because it invites folklore and speculation in a world that is largely silenced from scientific discourse. The artist invites the beholder to consider the pleasures and disasters of a science that is currently restricted to the passionless, sterile world of the science lab.