PATRICK AMIOT
"Joe Montana"
Patrick Amiot, "Joe Montana," mixed media, 21.5" tall.
PATRICK AMIOT
By Beverly Cramp
Quebec-born Patrick Amiot made his reputation as a sculptor working in ceramics. He is known for his brightly coloured, surprisingly detailed ceramic caricatures of everyday people, like the waitress at a neighbourhood diner, and famous sports figures. The Montreal Canadiens’ hockey team has been a favourite subject. Amiot now lives with his family in the Russian River area north of San Francisco where his interests in ecology have led him into the world of what some call “trash sculpture.” During the last six years, Amiot cut up found materials such as discarded auto parts, bicycles and washing machines and recycled this “trash” into life-size sculptures of various characters that caught his eye. More recently, Amiot has started using ceramics again and this work will be shown at Vancouver’s Buschlen Mowatt Gallery May 19 to July 4, 2004. “Patrick is a great portraitist in ceramics,” says gallery owner Barrie Mowatt. “He has a way of capturing ordinary people doing ordinary things while making both the people and the activity iconic.”