"Pexto Car" by Patrick Fitzgerald

Chicago-based artist Patrick Fitzgerald uses his works as a means of resurrecting the idyllic worlds he once found in the Industrial surroundings of his youth. Raised in Grand Rapids, MI, he looks to the raw beauty and inherent potential of his manufacturing hometown as an endless source of creative inspiration. Working from found materials, Fitzgerald constructs miniature versions of soap box cars...

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, eac...

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, eac...

Odyssey welded steel Measures: 18.5 x 19 x 18 in. Rooted in industrial materiality and abstract expression, Odyssey invites the viewer into a narrative of motion and emergence. A spiraling steel ribbon unfurls around a central, columnar form—ribbed and machined with mechanical precision—suggesting a journey inward or upward. A sharp, angular plane rises nearby like a sentinel or waypoint, introducing tension and verticality. The contrast of machined and hand-forged surfaces echoes the balance between human intention and mechanical force. With a commanding presence on its rough-edged steel base, Odyssey reflects on structure, evolution, and the persistence of form through time. Artist statement: I seldom use stock material, but prefer distressed and rusted steel that has been scarred, bent, and made imperfect. In this state, the material becomes quite beautiful. There are figurative elements in my work, though I am more drawn to the non-figurative, to the raw and essential aspect of steel. The Industrial purpose of steel must be considered, its use in construction, manufacturing, the military. Steel is forged with enormous energy and power. The process is violent, loud. Here, it is still and approachable. The compositions are constructed mainly from found parts. Their relationships manifest as I interact with the material. The pieces interlock, balance, and become fitted before I fasten or weld them together. The engineering is elemental. Altering the material is avoided. The number of parts kept to a minimum. Art is my spiritual exercise, my selflessness. It identifies me as a creator and satisfies my human longing for place and purpose. It needs not to be great, or preeminent, or commercial. Art speaks because it is Primitive. It exists because it is sacred. Biography: Scott Gordon was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey in 1966. He attended the University of Denver where he studied business and the University of Washington where he pursued an MFA in creative writing. While he was in Seattle, he was introduced to steel as an employee of the David Gulassa...