To Chicago-based artist Patrick Fitzgerald, his miniature car sculptures are a means of traveling through time. Born from a fascination with the soap box derby cars of his youth, each vehicle is an exercise in imagining the future through the lens of the past – or vice versa.
The cars belong to a body of work Fitzgerald calls his “Neighborhood of Infinity,” a borrowed term used literally to refer to the bounty of materials and creative inspiration he found in the industrial landscapes of his childhood in Grand Rapids, MI. Building from found materials collected over the years, he constructs futuristic forms layered with personal memories and keepsakes from the past. The most minute of details is always intentional – from the weathered finishes to the fictitious industrial sponsors to the miniaturized furnishings of the cramped interiors.
For the last decade, Fitzgerald has been mining his early experiences, re-envisioning the mechanical world of his childhood through the eye of an artist. “They may appear as stationary objects, but in my imagination, they travel along a track that is continuous and sometimes complex,” says Fitzgerald, “…like how paths in life can lead you back and forth in time.”
Chipboard, wood, mixed media, collage, and oil paint.
Additional Dimensions:
Car: 12.5”W x 1.75”D x 5.5”H
Stand: 8”W x 2.25”D x 1.5”H
