LEGO Artist Nathan Sawaya: Sculping Beauty Brick by Brick

Nathan Sawaya is an internationally known ex-lawyer professional Lego artist’s whose work has been featured throughout the world. Nathan Sawaya is perfectly willing to fulfill any commission you can think up of, and if custom ideas are slow, he has plenty of his own ideas to flesh out.

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Nathan Sawaya has made several portraits of himself (including a full-sized sculpture), and has even gotten a tattoo of the famous Lego indentations on his thumb; a fitting tribute to something that fueled his childhood imagination, and kept him employed as an adult.

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Much of Nathan Sawaya’s work involves inner selves tearing holes in something confining. These seem to symbolize an inner self being revealed, but regardless of the metaphor, the skill of these constructions is readily, and stunningly, apparent.

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Nathan Sawaya’s enthusiasm for his childhood pursuit of Lego extends to his love of the Star Wars universe as well. From a mini Death Star to Han Solo frozen in carbonite, Nathan has explored many aspects of the films, including parts that aren’t necessarily true to the source material (like the Statue of Liberty with lightsaber).

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Nathan Sawaya loves challenging himself with visions of the human form. The childhood spirit of some of his pieces works exceptionally well with the inherent fun atmosphere of Lego.

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Lego sculptures seem like a natural avenue for Lego art, but portraits are another of Nathan Sawaya’s secret weapons. Placing pieces in just the right order, he’s able to create realistic and artful portraits of anyone with incredible detail.

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Nathan Sawaya clearly likes to represent the less happy aspects of humanity as well as the wonder-filled childhood aspect. Many of Nathan’s pieces are falling apart, or in clear pain, creating an interesting dichotomy between the Lego material and the eerie sculptures themselves.