Making Art With LEGO Bricks
Short Interview with Nathan Sawaya (aka Brick Artist)
Nathan Sawaya (aka Brick Artist) is living everyone’s childhood dream — professionally playing with LEGO bricks.
Ever wanted to build a T-Rex?
A flying pig?
The Batmobile?
The face of Andy Warhol?
A penguin?
A dog wearing sunglasses?
Or the human form?
Sawaya has sculpted them all — using ordinary LEGO bricks. Originally a lawyer, Sawaya began building LEGO-brick sculptures in his free-time to burn off steam. Eventually, he filled his New York apartment wall-to-wall with LEGO sculptures and started a virtual gallery online with photos of his work. When his website crashed from receiving too many hits, Sawaya realized he was on to something. Since then, he has become a certified LEGO Master Builder, LEGO Certified Professional, hosted multiple art exhibits, been featured in many museums, and displayed in different art collections. His work is a testament to the significance of creativity.
For anyone always interested in the imaginative, who wishes to see their childhood LEGO-brick-building dreams realized, or artists looking to be baffled by an ingenious sculpting medium, it is fantastic to say that Sawaya was generous enough to answer ten short-interview questions via Email about the beginning of his LEGO-brick sculpting, collaborations, and the value of creativity:
1) You used to work as a lawyer. Of course, you liked playing with LEGOs when you were younger, but were you ever interested in art (drawing, sculpting, etc.) before?
My parents were always encouraging creativity, so, as a child, there were always creative toys around like crayons, play-dough, and, of course, LEGO bricks. They were so encouraging that they actually let me have a LEGO city in our living room that I could go and play in.
As I got older, and became a lawyer, I would come home from long days at the law firm and need a creative outlet. Sometimes it was drawing, sometimes painting and sometimes sculpting. I sculpted out of more traditional media like clay and wire. I even did sculptures out of candy. But then one day, I challenged myself to create sculptures out of my childhood toy: LEGO bricks.
2) Could you explain how you transitioned from being an attorney full-time to playing with bricks full-time?
After I graduated from college, I did not have faith in my art for a full-time career, so I became an attorney. I found myself doing mergers and acquisitions for a firm in Manhattan. It was not the most creative job, and it didn’t use very much imagination. After a day at the firm, many lawyers would go to the gym, and others would go grab a drink. But to blow off some steam, I found I needed a creative outlet. I started experimenting with LEGO as an art medium. I just kept building after work and on the weekends.
Building sculptures out of LEGO was my way of relaxing. Eventually my New York City apartment was packed wall-to-wall with art. I put together a collection of sculptures on my own website as a virtual gallery. Eventually, I was getting commissioned to create works of art. And the day my website crashed from too many hits, I decided to make a change in my life. I left my day-job behind to become a full-time working artist.
It was scary, but also completely liberating. I was in control of my own destiny and the first morning I woke up after leaving the law firm was the beginning of what has turned out to be a truly thrilling adventure.
My law skills have come in handy from time-to-time and have been beneficial when negotiating commission contracts. But I still say that the worst day as an artist is still better than the best day as a lawyer.
3) How do you make a living/money playing with bricks full-time, e.g. selling sculptures, utilizing advertising online, getting paid for hosting exhibits?
I am lucky to have found a career that I love, and make a living by selling my artwork. In addition, some of my artwork tours in an exhibition titled, The Art of the Brick, and I have also written a book that highlights a bit of behind-the-scenes moments along the journey to becoming a LEGO artist.
4) Could you explain the process and honor of becoming a LEGO Master Builder and a LEGO Certified Professional?
I was very honored both times that the LEGO company asked me to be both a Master Builder and a LEGO Certified Professional. The LEGO company would be better at explaining the processes.
5) What LEGO creations that you have made are you most proud of creating and why those ones?
I don’t have a particular work of art that I consider my favorite. If anything, my favorite work of art is the next one I am working on because that is where all my focus is.
If any one work has become the most iconic, it is probably the piece, “Yellow,” which depicts a figure tearing it’s chest open and thousands of yellow bricks are pouring out. People ask me about that particular work all the time. The piece is about opening oneself up to the world and giving everything you have.
6) There seems to be a growing popularity in creating more ambitious projects and art out of LEGO bricks. How have others been inspired by you to create something artistic from LEGO?
I don’t have particulars, but when I started no one was taking LEGO bricks into the contemporary art world. I started off with a goal of being the first person to make LEGO bricks a viable art medium for contemporary art. I was met with some resistance at first, but these days we see more and more artists using LEGO bricks as a medium. I think we might be on the verge of a LEGO art movement.
7) What are some collaborations with other artists and/or creative people that you have done?
I have collaborated with a variety of artists over the years. I have worked with comic book artist, Jim Lee, to design a brand new Batmobile that I then built life-size with almost half-of-a-million LEGO bricks. I have also collaborated with Lady Gaga to create artwork for her G.U.Y. music video. Another collaboration was with Australian photographer Dean West to incorporate my LEGO sculptures into his hyper-realistic photographs. That project explored the construction of identity.
8) Have you done street art? How has the experience been creating LEGO sculptures and placing them out on the streets of New York?
Yes, I created my own form of street art out of LEGO bricks that I call “Hugman.”
Hugman is a little dude that stands about 15-inches tall. He’s made completely out of LEGO bricks and he likes to hug things like sign posts, park benches, bicycle racks, etc. I have left hundreds of these guys in cities that I have visited. They are there to put a smile on people’s faces and remind them that art can be anywhere.
9) Your T-Rex sculpture reminds me of Night at the Museum. How was the idea to create that sculpture born? And you use glue to hold sculptures together? I’m baffled at how the T-Rex stays up.
After my first solo art exhibition, I was amazed at the number of families and children that came to see the artwork, who had never been to an art museum before.
I wanted to do something for those kids, and I thought about what kids love. Well, kids love dinosaurs, so I spent the next summer creating the giant T-Rex skeleton sculpture. It was really an engineering challenge.
If my sculptures were to just stay in my art studio, the LEGO bricks would remain together just fine, but, because I ship artwork all over the world, I have found that I need to glue all the bricks together to make sure the artwork arrives in one piece.
10) What is most rewarding about what you do? And what advice would you give who want to create LEGO-brick art like you?
I want to inspire people. I believe that art is not optional. Creating art makes people happier, smarter and just better people.
I think it is important for people to express their creativity. I’m not saying that people need to spend months on a giant LEGO sculpture. But a little art, maybe some finger-painting with their kids, or even just a bit of doodling or crafting will make you a happier person. So in the end, I hope my exhibition inspires people to create a little art in their lives.
As for advice, just have a little patience because some of these sculptures can take days, weeks and months to finish. And remember to have fun.
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Visit his website here.
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