The anticipated arrival of Patrick Amiot’s newest sculpture to be installed in front of Loch Gallery, 16 Hazelton Avenue, will be a larger than life scrap metal Toronto Blue Jays baseball player.
The monumental piece replaces the recently departed Canadian Goalie which delighted passersby of Loch Gallery before it was loaned to the Molson Canadian Hockey House during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.
Originally from Montreal, artistic duo Patrick Amiot and his wife, Bridgette Laurent have been based in California for over a decade. They have created a reputation as the Michelangelo’s of recycled art by animating their adopted community with over 300 large-scale outdoor sculptures.
The Toronto Blue Jay towers 11 feet high and is comprised of an assortment of retired instruments rescued from a junk yard. An aircraft carrier tank forms the body of the baseball player; the tobacco chew in his mouth is an old school bell, while the eyes are sports clocks from a school. Amiot searches for objects with an inherent shape which he transposes, like the scrap yard crushing claw representing the baseball mitt.
In talking about his current sculpture, Amiot states “in reality, you don’t just come out of nowhere. My style still holds the same character as my early ceramic work.” From the time he was in his early 20’s and met sculptor Bill Reid, the master of West Coast native art to being informed of East Coast Folk Art as well as awareness of his own French Canadian Heritage, Amiot absorbed Canada’s unique influences.
Spurred on by the success of his work in Canada and the United States along with the enthusiasm of his Sonoma County residence, Amiot has demonstrated a determination to go bigger and wilder with each new challenge. Pushing the boundary of traditional artistic techniques is evident in this exciting new work.
Loch Gallery is proud to represent Patrick Amiot.
By Kayleigh Osness, Loch Gallery
