Nathan Sawaya

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Please improve this article if you can. (May 2007)

Nathan Sawaya (born July 10, 1973), is an artist who builds custom three-dimensional models and large-scale mosaics from popular everyday items and standard Lego toy bricks. His unique, one-of-a-kind art creations are commissioned by companies, charities, individuals, museums and galleries.

He first came to national attention in 2004, when he won a nationwide search for a professional Lego Master Model Builder.[1]

After working for the Lego company for six months, he branched off and opened his own art studio in New York and is officially recognized by The Lego Group as a Lego Certified Professional.[2]

Born in Colville, Washington and raised in Veneta, Oregon, Sawaya's had his first solo art exhibit in the Spring of 2007 at the Lancaster Museum of Art. The Art of the Brick is the first major museum exhibition in the U.S. to focus exclusively on the use of LEGO building blocks as an art medium.

In addition, his work is also in collections including:

  • The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York
  • Time Warner Center public art display in New York, New York
  • Qwest Field public art display in Seattle, Washington
  • Legoland California in Carlsbad, California
  • FAO Schwarz in New York, New York
  • The Toy Museum in Bellaire, Ohio
  • The Dreier Collection in Santa Barbara, California
  • The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia
  • The New Orleans Public Library public art display in New Orleans, Louisiana

Since 2000, Sawaya has created some of the most recognizable LEGO art sculptures, including a 7-foot-long replica of the Brooklyn Bridge, a life-size tyrannosaurus rex, a 6-foot-tall Han Solo frozen in carbonite, Curious George, and models of Alfred Hitchcock and Lindsay Lohan. Others include a huge black-and-white self portrait and a gigantic Monopoly box.

Sawaya has also been featured on multiple media outlets including The Colbert Report, where he presented Stephen Colbert with a life size replica of none other than Stephen Colbert; CBS’s The Late Show with David Letterman; NBC’s Today Show; MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann; ESPN’s Cold Pizza; ABC’S Jimmy Kimmel Live; Newsweek; the Los Angeles Times; Hollywood Reporter; CNN; and Newsday.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/01/62047.
  2. ^ LEGO.com About Us - LEGO Company - LEGO Certified Professionals

[edit] External links