Skywhale to drift across Melbourne The giant Skywhale hot-air balloon sculpture rises in Melbourne. WHETHER it makes you smile, grimace or scratch your head, there's no denying the giant Skywhale is a head-turner. The hot-air balloon sculpture, created by artist Patricia Piccinini, made its first appearance in Melbourne this morning before a flight across the city as soon as weather permits. Commissioned for the Centenary of Canberra, Skywhale is twice the size of a regular hot-air balloon - 34m long and 23m high - and is made of 3.5km of nylon. Within its structure is a traditional hot-air balloon that enables it to fly. Skywhale was inflated on the ACCA Forecourt at Southbank, providing an unexpected spectacle for morning commuters and causing tram drivers to slow down for a closer look. Everyone smiles when they see her and she smiles back, so that's rather nice. I'm not sure the dogs agree though," ACCA artistic director Juliana Engberg said. We're just showing her off before she flies over Melbourne. Then it will travel to other parts of Australia and there's talk of it going around the world. Piccinini is best know for her startling, life-like sculptures that merge species, such as humans and animals. She designed Skywhale on paper and created a 3D model, but it was made in Bristol at one of only two companies worldwide that produce odd-shaped hot-air balloons. "My practice is about the natural and the artificial, especially in terms of the nature we change around us," she said. I'm very interested in what our responsibilities are to the creatures that we change and engineer and so on. Skywhale is a blend of sea creatures with a serene smile and a collection of giant mammary glands along her sides. Piccinini said the sculpture was meant to look unusual, but not so alien as to be disengaging. A lot of people love her on the spot. Some people think she's quite ugly and gross," Piccinini said. What I hope is that she brings a sense of wonder to people's lives. I think it's a hopeful work. I wanted her to have this peaceful, maternal presence and when she descends on people for it to be an amazing thing. She's beautiful.