Nathan Sawaya is a New York-based artist who creates awe-inspiring works of art out of some of the most unlikely things. His recent global museum exhibitions feature large-scale sculptures using only toy building blocks. LEGO® bricks to be exact. A full-time independent artist, Sawaya accepts commission requests and shows his art in galleries in New York, Miami and Maui.
Sawaya’s art is currently touring museums in a show titled, The Art of the Brick. It’s the first exhibition focusing exclusively on LEGO as an art medium. The creations, constructed from countless individual LEGO pieces, were built from standard bricks beginning as early as 2002.
Sawaya’s art is currently touring museums in a show titled, The Art of the Brick. It’s the first exhibition focusing exclusively on LEGO as an art medium. The creations, constructed from countless individual LEGO pieces, were built from standard bricks beginning as early as 2002.
Today Sawaya has more than 2.5 million colored bricks in his New York and Los Angeles art studios. His work is obsessively and painstakingly crafted and is both beautiful and playful. Sawaya’s ability to transform LEGO bricks into something new, his devotion to scale and color perfection, the way he conceptualizes the action of the subject matter, enables him to elevate an ordinary toy to the status of fine art.
“The museum exhibition is accessible because it engages the child in all of us while simultaneously illuminating sophisticated and complex concepts. Everyone can relate to the medium since it is a toy that many children have at home" Sawaya said. His goal is to "elevate a simple plaything to a place it has never been before".
Images courtesy of Erica Ann
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Gordana Radjenovic
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