"Maquette" by Patrick Fitzgerald

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.

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.

The imaginary derby sponsor for this "Maquette" car is Southport Tool and Die, a Chicago company from the 1940s. Painted on the opposite side is a reference to the "MULberry" phone exchange, a recurring theme in several of Fitzgerald's works and a reflection on our ever-evolving technological landscape.

Oil, collage, and mixed media on cardboard and wood.