LEGO House in Billund offers guests an incredible way to connect with the company’s history and playfully engage with bricks, but my favorite wing is the Masterpiece Gallery, which honors fan creations from builders around the world. It’s an amazing way to showcase what LEGO artists are doing with bricks to a wide audience, and for those who follow the MOC world closely, it’s a chance to see favorite builds up close in the best possible venue (alongside three enormous T. rexes!). This year, the space was expanded to include two sections for wall-mounted artwork, bringing the total to 17 artists.
TBB was fortunate to speak with all of the builders this week before their works were opened to the public. Some of the faces and builds are quite familiar to readers of this site – one is even a contributor! Let’s meet these amazing builders:
Seigo Aoki (aka DeRa) – Japan
DeRa has created some of the most popular builds of the last two years featured on Brothers Brick, so seeing the amazing models in person was truly an honor. While DeRa‘s featured builds are organic subjects, the builder studies Architecture and has created incredible buildings from LEGO as intricate as his beasts and mechs. DeRa is proud that Japanese builders have been recognized around the world.
Kimberly Giffen – USA
Kimberly Giffen isn’t just an incredible builder – she’s a long-time contributor to the Brothers Brick! For her Masterpiece Gallery contribution, Kimberly chose a recent build of an elven city that showcases one of her favorite building themes – playing with perspective. While most of the model is at minifig-scale, the cliff wall behind contains microscale houses and trees that transport the viewer to a much larger world. The exhibit space is composed of multiple display cases, but only one has power, and by scoring this location, Kimberly can include lighting elements so that the windows and waterfall glow. Congratulations, Kimberly!
Liang Yao – China
Liang Yao was inspired to explore LEGO graphic builds after discovering the daily album cover art of the amazing @uvupv. Liang started by adapting the cover of one of his favorite Chinese musicians into LEGO. Soon after, he read Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, which culminates with the reader creating a self-portrait. From sketch to LEGO, Liang learned to show his truth in every line and brick. His newer works on display in the Masterpiece Gallery showcase his growing confidence as an artist, using LEGO to capture the lights and shadows of life in Shanghai.
Bart De Dibbelaer – Netherlands
Bart De Dobbelaer is a master of sci-fi scenes that transport you to alien worlds full of mystery and incredible LEGO parts usage. Many of Bart’s works include a minifig to set the scale, but for the piece on display in the Masterpiece Gallery, there is no human present, only alien insects crawling on human terraforming machinery. Are the machines small or the bugs enormous? It’s up to the viewer to decide! For this model, the seed part is a rare yellow wing from the short-lived Ben 10 line, made rarer because Bart bought out all that could be found on Bricklink!
Cecilie Fritzvold –Norway
Cecilie‘s showcase is adapted from one of our very favorite MOCS from last year. The brick-built shadow and forced perspective were striking in the original immersive presentation. For the Masterpiece Gallery display, Cecilie recontextualizes the elements of the scene to be better appreciated from multiple angles. A minifig is added to the bridge by the pagoda to help reinforce the differing scales. What struck me upon seeing the build in person was how effective the brick-built shadow is. When I asked about this, Cecilie explained that she tried casting light on the model to use an actual shadow as a guide, but ultimately, it looked more convincing when she just winged it. It’s a magical effect!
Nicholas Keller (aka King Nack) -Canada
LEGO House promotes itself as the “home of the brick,” but Nicholas makes it into the Masterpiece Gallery as an artist who uses no bricks in his builds. A lifelong Bionicle fan, is part of the community of fans who never stoped finding ways of using the bio-mechanical elements of the Bionicle line. While Nicholas does incorporate newer elements compatible with Bionicle and Constraction building, system bricks never feature. In the massive black dragon on display in Billund, there are only 2 elements – printed tiles – with stud connections among the thousands of parts. Even though LEGO has moved on from Bionicle, the theme is seeing a surge of popularity as ever more builders who grew up with the toys enter their AFOL era. For Nicholas, Tahu’s flame never burned out.
Kit Nugent – Scotland
Kit Nugent is both an Iron Builder and one of the most big-hearted AFOLs building today. His creations showcase incredible parts usage and innovative techniques, as seen in all three of his Masterpiece Gallery selections – like the thatched roof made of thousands of wands and sprues, or a leaping marlin coated completely in trans light blue bricks. Kit’s caravanserie was a personal favorite build from last year. His skills are matched only by his generosity in providing tutorials and offering feedback and guidance to fellow builders.
Jane Gibbons-Eyre – Australia
Jane’s remarkable contribution to the Masterpiece Gallery is a three dimensional recreation of the paitnting Shearing the Rams by 19th century artist Tom Roberts. Jane plays with forced perspective with 3D models transitioning to a mosaic backdrop, all rendered with the golden colors of Australia. Seeing the work in person, I’m struck by the piles of freshly-shorn wool that tumble out of the frame. The model hides a heartbreaking secret:
“Those who are familiar with the painting might notice that one of the men is missing. This was a deliberate choice.Finishing this MOC has been very difficult for me. Nine and a half months ago we lost our beautiful son Caleb to suicide. I have struggled to find my creative self amidst the storms of grief. Every brick was a battle to place. I have a hole in my heart, a space from losing our boy. It felt right to show that space in the MOC. The man in the painting is not visible in my build. However his shadow, his presence, his space, remains.”
Geng Lei – China
Geng Lei has been at the forefront of China’s AFOL scene, having presented at LEGO’s first recognized fan event in Shanghai in 2017 and competing on LEGO Masters China, teamed with Dicken Liu. The builder brings one of his largest creations ever to Billund, an enormous temple that fuses traditional architecture with a touch of fantasy. The original build featured a large Buddha statue, but since LEGO doesn’t allow religious icons in the gallery, Geng had to remove it. Two tower structures also had to be removed to reduce the enormous footprint to a size that fit into the gallery. We previously covered Geng Lei’s incredible build, and seeing it in person was a true honor.
Satu Aaltonen – Finland
LEGO Masters alumn Satu Aaltonen is a pioneer in wearable art, making incredible fashions from LEGO elements that are beautiful whether adorning a mannequin or a loved one. Satu finds innovative ways to use flexible LEGO elements, gently bending to match the human form to create pieces fit for both AFOL events and a Paris runway. Her work is a testament to the creativity that comes from working with constraints of LEGO while celebrating the fun and joy it brings so many in a new way. Satu also brings her sigfig wherever she goes, making sure minifig Satu gets to experience very big adventures!
Mitsuru Nikaido – Japan
Early in his LEGO Journey Mitsuru Nikaido discovered the mechanical biology style that would become his artistic life’s work. He decided to limit his palette to greyscale, with only the rare use of color, as it evokes classic sculptures of stone and marble. The builder started out primarily creating LEGO mecha, and has made more sci-fi frames and weapons in recent years, but Mitsuru-san’s primary focus it biomechanical animals ranging from undersea life to prehistoric beasts. His work has been collected into three printed collections. Mitsuru-san’s favorite piece is the iguana in honor of his pet.
Juliane Pilster – Germany
Michael Sillinger
Country: Austria 
Michael is a 21st-century builder with vintage tastes. Vintage electronics, vintage scooters, and vintage skiers – specifically, Austrian gold medalist Franz Klammer! Michi combined his love of local Olympic hero Klammer with his love for LEGO with a dynamic model that travelled from Tyrol to LEGO House in Billund. The skier is paired with a brick-built TV playing footage of Klammer’s 1976 winning runs. The builder’s larger constructions from LEGO events and LEGO Masters Germany exude whimsy – I especially like the cross-section storytelling in his Austrian farm MOC that debuted this summer.
Pamela Henry USA
Each room across the four floors of Pamela’s exquisite dollhouse is packed with detailed furniture and fixtures. (Her favorites are the kitchen with its cast iron stove and the dining room with the elegant furniture). To help maintain scale while building, Pamela used the LEGO Ideas Jazz Quartet characters as a reference, but never planned to display the house with brick-built characters. The build has appeared at several US conventions, but before its installation in LEGO House, Pamela took an extra pass on the attic area to make sure it matched the detail of the rest of the house. While the artist has made other smaller builds with furniture in this style, she prefers not to pin down her style and is always trying new things, from mosaics to architecture.
Ian Summers – USA
Fresh off a victory on Season 5 of LEGO Masters, Ian takes the stage in Billund with a mix of delightful small builds. Ian is a true master of NPU (Nice Parts Usage) with galaxy mind builds that amaze AFOLs with creative build solutions and bring smiles to all with their gentle humor. For example, a scattering of visor elements around his infamous nail clippers are so perfectly evocative of toenail clippings, you can’t help but cringe upon seeing them. The featured owl is a humble and cute-looking fellow, but Ian hides some NPU flexes, like the beak made from a Robin Hood molded head, and the talons formed from Chima mammoth tusks. Ian’s Wicked figures are minifig-sized but sport lifelike silhouettes. If ever a wiz there was, it’s Ian Summers.
Azurekingfisher – Japan
Azurekingfisher’s colorful creations have been shared at shows in Japan, but she makes her international debut at LEGO House today. The private builder prefers not to be photographed, but kindly talked with us with the help of a fellow AFOL translator. The builder’s singular style plays with contrast between angles and curves, flatness and depth, clean white and bright colors. Azurekingfisher crafted floral displays before the Botanicals line opened up the idea of flower arrangement with LEGO to a broad audience. As much as Azurekingfisher enjoys the Botanicals theme, she is a bit worried for her beloved element 2417, the classic leaf element, which saw an explosion of new colors over the years, but has become less common as new leaf elements join the LEGO ecosystem. The distinctive piece has a pliability and grip strength that make Azurekingfisher’s curves and spheres a surprisingly strong form. The white dove was displayed in the builder’s house for give years before moving to Billiund and the leafy wings never came loose. Here is hoping that 2417 will appear in new shades to give Azurekingfisher even more colors to play with!
Gerardo Pontierr – Mexico
Gerardo‘s breathtaking 3D portraits have made waves far beyond the AFOL community. Seen from straight on, they look like pixelated mosaic portraits, but as you get closer and look from the side, the pointilist image transforms into a forest of LEGO detail. Microscale tributes, minifigures, and architecture enrich the subject.
Gerardo‘s Catrina reveals tributes to Mexican culture with charreada, mariachi, Aztec history, luchador fights, and more. The artist is also a classical violinist and created his own instrument from LEGO bricks mounted on a wooden core. Inside the violin are two minifigures – one representing Gerardo fulfilling his dreams, the other representing the artist as a child who loves LEGO.