Words matter. These are the best Nathan Sawaya Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I split my commission and personal work about 50 per cent each. It is important to get that balance in life.
I am an artist who works with Lego.
I was looking to explore the theme of good and evil, so what better inspiration than the comics? I’d developed a relationship with DC and Warner Bros. when I donated a sculpture of Catwoman to the ‘We Can Be Heroes’ campaign a few years ago. That’s what started it.
What do young, budding artists do, but go to law school? I had creative periods now and again, but it wasn’t until I was practicing law that I really needed a creative outlet. I’d come home from long days at the office and draw, paint, and sculpt from clay, wire – even candy.
The team behind ‘The Lego Movie’ approached me. They wanted to do something extra special for the Academy Award performance of best song nominee ‘Everything is Awesome.’ They had seen my earlier version of a Lego Oscar statue, and I was happy to take on the challenge.
I’m an independent artist, but I do have a good business relationship with Lego, since I’m a unique customer. They’re aware of what I’m doing. A painter may not have a relationship with a paint maker, but there’s only one company that makes Lego.
There was a time when I was practicing law in New York and I wanted to find something else to do. So I ended up leaving the practice of law to pursue my art and it just happened to be out of Lego bricks.
There’s a fun, nostalgic aspect to Legos – people connect to the art on a different level. But it’s also a medium that lets me design anything I can imagine. I especially enjoy creating curvy forms using rectangular pieces. Up close, you notice the sharp angles, but when you back away, the corners blend into curves.
I’ve made a bit of a career taking daunting projects out of Lego. I’ve done things like a dinosaur skeleton and stuff like that.
I think watching Channing Tatum caress his Lego Oscar statue will be something I won’t forget. Even if I try.
Kids can’t build a marble statue at home. But I’ve had parents tell me that, after an exhibit, their kids immediately dug out their Lego kits and disappeared for three days.
I see the world in rectangles. If I am talking to someone, I find myself analysing their face, working out how to recreate it in bricks.
I do hear from people at my exhibition about seeing these things made from this toy from their childhood, and it brings them back. They’ll go and buy a set of Lego from the gift shop because of that nostalgia and seeing it at the art exhibition.
If I’m creating a free-form piece of art, I can make it look like anything I want, and nobody will say it’s wrong.
