The Last Sideshow NMME Ling-Ling the acrobat embodies discipline

Ling-Ling the acrobat embodies discipline hidden beneath theatrical costume and painted identity

larrikan humour and legendary phrases in common use that deserve their own place in Australian modern history

but they are always present for those who take the time to look

and from an early age loved to draw

fold and tuft of fur has been carefully built by hand

The Last Sideshow NMME Ling-Ling the acrobat embodies disciplineThe Last Sideshow By artist: Jacqui Burnell Air dry clay, chalk paint, recycled brass tray, artist board, lacquer. 90 x 90 x 10 cm Before television, social media and 24 hour entertainment, people flocked to circuses to marvel at the unusual. Bearded women, strongmen and acrobats became spectacles that were celebrated for, and simultaneously reduced to, their differences. This trio reimagines those performers through hand built clay portraits mounted