Jiwoo Seon’s stunning modulars, like this gilded opera house, put her in LEGO Ideas 10k club three-times over. LEGO House is currently displaying her builds in the Masterpiece Gallery. In Seoul, her ornate framed floral works earned her a gallery show. But starting this August, Jiwoo’s building is taking her to someplace most builders only dream of – a seat in Billund as a set designer.  Jiwoo’s models are consistently ornate, finding classical beauty in constrained colors. It will be fascinating to see how her distinctive style will translate into future sets. As she begins the next phase of her life’s journey, the artist shares this brick-built self-portrait.

And here’s the artist in her own words:

A fleeting moment never stays.
A candle burns and disappears, its flame vanishing too quickly.
But I believe—when I respond with instinct, the moment doesn’t vanish.
It remains, as light.
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This piece is not a portrait of who I was, nor who I hoped to be.
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It is the moment, the gaze that answered it, and the essence that sustained me, and the instinct unfolding through motion upon it—all brought together as a self-portrait shaped through my present gesture.
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On the left, the candlestick and scattered matches represent the fleeting moment—a sharp, vivid instant that called for instinctive response.
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At the center, a lavishly adorned frame holds my self-portrait blooming like blossoms.
It captures the gaze and emotions that responded to each moment, and the me who longed to bloom in the now.
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To the right stands a solitary pillar—a symbol of the inner essence that has long sustained me.
Atop it, a ballerina spins in a quiet pirouette.
She is the embodiment of my present self,
built upon that essence.
Her movement is the convergence of instinct and gaze—a graceful expression of transformation, and the form of my will made visible.
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Now, I stand—facing the moment, the look, and the instinct within me—shaped into one self-portrait.