BizJournals Portfolio

An Artist's Greatest Bricks

Aug 17 2008

Back to: Piece by Piece

Yellow
Bumblebee
Gray
Reflection
Heart
Stephen Colbert
Grasp
Rebirth of New Orleans
Blue
Hand
1 of 12
lego-slide1.jpg
Former corporate lawyer Nathan Sawaya has been creating large-scale Lego sculptures for the last several years. This work, entitled Yellow, has become one of his signature pieces. "I guess it's because opening up oneself to the world is not an easy thing to do," Sawaya says.
Bumblebee
Sawaya created this four-foot-tall work for Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz as a gift for his new bride, pop star Ashlee Simpson.
Gray
Sawaya jokes that the inspiration for this piece was the time he was trapped in a cardboard box.
Reflection
This piece is a reflection of how Sawaya sees the world in Lego bricks.
Heart
Sawaya spent nearly 100 hours to make this anatomically correct human heart, which weighs 35 pounds. It was built for a children's hospital.
Stephen Colbert
This life-size sculpture of the host of The Colbert Report was done for an appearance Sawaya made on the show in August 2007.
Grasp
Sawaya says this six-and-a-half-foot-tall piece was inspired by so many people telling him "no" in response to what he wanted to do with his life.
Rebirth of New Orleans
The New Orleans Public Library commissioned this work from Sawaya to celebrate the city's rebirth. It contained over 120,000 bricks and took over six weeks to build.
Blue
Sawaya says of Blue: "A self-made man? Or taking himself apart? I'll never tell."
Hand
Sawaya has done several pieces about hands since they're so important to him.

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