More Answers From LEGO Artist Nathan Sawaya

Questions About Counting Bricks, Inspiration For Pieces and More

May 31, 2009

Sawya tells Suite101.com more about his art., including how he juggles commissions with works inspired by events in his life.

Choose a piece from the Art of the Brick exhibition and tell how long it took to create it.

One of my sculptures, Grasp, depicts a life-size human form in front of a wall. Out of the wall are several arms clutching at the figure as he tries to pull away. This sculpture has a lot to do with my own personal struggles and how so many people were constantly telling me "no." The piece took about 3 to 4 weeks to create. I created a sculpture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex that measures 20 feet long. I used about 80,000 bricks in that sculpture.

How many LEGO bricks are in your dinosaur sculpture?

I created a sculpture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton that measures 20 feet long. I used about 80,000 bricks in that sculpture.

With something like the billboard [on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles], I know how many pieces I have to purchase in order to create the project. But for the most part I do not count the pieces as I am going. It would get too monotonous. Generally, I estimate the number of bricks I use based on what I need to purchase for my inventory when I finish a sculpture.

Inspiration comes from many places and people. I can never point to just one thing and say that has been my inspiration. I have been inspired by people I have met, locations to where I have traveled, and something as simple as a tree. It all depends on my current state of mind. Also, I live in New York City, and when I get stuck on a specific, I will often just take a walk in the city and usually that leads to some inspiration.

Sometimes I have been inspired by something but it will take years for the idea to develop and come to fruition before I actually start building it. For example, my sculpture Yellow, depicts a life-size figure tearing his chest open while hundreds of plastic bricks spill out. The initial idea for this sculpture began two years before I actually put down the first brick.

Approximately what percentage of your work centers on your own ideas and what percentage on ideas coming to you by commission?

Probably half and half. I will do a commissioned piece, and then I will do a piece for myself. The pieces I do for myself are the sculptures that make up a lot of my museum exhibits that are currently touring. For example, my sculpture Sing was just something I did for myself after seeing a friend of mine singing on stage one night. I liked how she became the music that night, and that thought led me to create this sculpture of a giant musical note with the bulb of the note actually forming a human head.

I also like getting the request of people for commissions because there are so many unique ideas out there. It keeps it interesting. People have a passion for something and they want to see my interpretation of that passion. For example, the CEO of one of the world's largest slot machine manufacturers requested me to created an antique slot machine for his office. I don't know if I would have thought of ever doing a slot machine, but it was a great challenge.

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