Patrick Amiot
Patrick Amiot is a Canadian-born sculptor, who along with his wife, Brigitte Laurent, currently works out of Sebastopol, California. Their world-renowned creations, often jointly conceived, use recycled and repurposed materials.
“The whole purpose of my work is to glorify these objects, because they have their own spirit,” says Amiot. “When a hubcap has traveled on a truck for millions of miles, and has seen the prairies in the winter and the hot summer asphalt, when it’s done traveling with that truck and finds itself in the scrap yard and I find it, I kind of like to use that.
“This hubcap, or whatever piece of metal, from the day it was manufactured until now, has an important history. And I like to think the spirit of all these things lived incredible lives. If they could talk to you, they could tell amazing stories. That’s something I don’t want to hide.”
The unique and environmentally friendly “Pride Of Canada Carousel” is the kinetic centerpiece of Remington’s public art initiative and is unlike any carousel ever created. It pays tribute to many of Canada’s most celebrated wonders and iconic individuals and, as envisioned by Amiot and Laurent, the sculptural characters have been lovingly built from found or recycled objects.
The carousel’s structure was built and assembled by the legendary Daniel Horenberger of Brass Ring Entertainment. Some of Horenberger’s notable carousel creations include Disney’s King Arthur carousel and General Electric’s solar powered carousel.