Tag Archives: Art

Some LEGO builders elevate the form to fine art in its own right, while others enjoy reproducing famous works of art with the brick. Find beautiful and thought-provoking LEGO artwork right here.

Getting to the heart of the matter

In this enigmatic piece, builder why.not? creates a heart from the negative space formed in a wall of black bricks. Acting like a window it draws our attention towards the red and white quadrants behind. Two opposing figures face off across the coloured fields, separated by rugged chains. As a builder myself, I find the use of the imperfect connections between elements to create glowing cracks particularly effective. As we’ve seen before, why.not? is careful not to give too much away, leaving the work untitled, but this shouldn’t stop us pondering the turmoil of the heart it passionately expresses.

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Kick back and relax in this stylish loft apartment

“I would love to live there!” This was the first thought that entered my mind upon seeing this warm and welcoming loft apartment, built by Heikki M. Thanks to the iconic large open space and towering windows, this living space looks like it’s straight out of Manhattan. The composition of the entire scene is excellent, with the carpet, table and couch drawing your eyes to some impressive-looking masonry. I like how the furniture feels simple but modern, with each piece playing off of one another to form a cohesive still life. Even the portrait of Michael Jackson is well-placed; his side-turned head makes it look as if he’s admiring Heikki’s pad.

Imprisoned in dreams of terrors

This Medusa-like character is eerie and sinister while at the same time beautiful and terrifying. One can only wonder what would inspire Timofey Tkachev to build such an unsettling mythical creature. The curvature on the female form and its detailing through the careful parts usages for the eyes and lips amplifies the realism. What draws the viewer to the scene subconsciously is the impressive effort of tessellation with steering wheels that complements the scene.

Red hot brick is extra-cool

Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and the UK is currently in the grip of what our press is calling a heatwave (although folks from other countries would probably describe it as “mildly warm”). And so, this great little melting LEGO brick from Chris Maddison totally fits the mood. The curved slope parts employed, and the effortless SNOT (studs-not-on-top) construction techniques, create a fabulous impression of a classic red 2×4 brick slumping and spreading in the heat. Just looking at this thing is enough to raise the temperature. Hot stuff.

The art of painting with bricks

I love how LEGO bricks can be used to express and build subjects other than the usual way we see 3-dimensional stacks of bricks. Sheo pulls this off very well with a portrait entitled “Evelyn.” When I first had a look at this, it reminded me of an art form that’s so very familiar yet I still can’t put my finger on it — elegant and polished with clever use of tiny accessories or parts that seem to just blend in like that cutlass forming the bridge of her nose.

While the portrait of Evelyn enchants, the Trickster featured below hints at an evil, mysterious character.

The Life of a Sentient Machine or is it all a Dream?

This piece of digital art was painted with LEGO elements that we’re familiar with — Technic gears and System tiles. Anthony Wilson provokes thought and makes one peek deep into the depths of the machine. What is the machine? Who is the machine? A still of a slender wanderer perhaps, navigating an endless journey. What is he searching for? The sharp and protruding edges give a sense of evil and danger ahead. Do the elements rearrange themselves to hinder the wanderer or do they give heed to his commands? Or are these the dreams of the toiling, tired and weary LEGO fan in preparation for tomorrow’s brick convention?

A picturesque portrait

We see a lot of LEGO models that attempt to create very life-like scenes seen through an almost documentarian lens. Rarer, however, is the build that takes a more artistic approach, such as this pair of ballet dancers by Nicolas PICOT. Using a flat style with lots of curved bricks across a few planes of depth, Nicolas has emulated a photograph, and the dancers’ frozen-in-motion pose is conveyed perfectly.

I’ll take what’s behind door number two please

Doors are always full of unknowns, and far too often it’s a gateway into another world. Every door that you open up for the first time is a surprise, a world that you’ve never seen before. Everywhere you go, doors are meant to be opened, with the exception of this one — it’s meant to stay closed for a very good reason. While what’s behind this door by why.not? is curious enough to tease our imaginations, I’m actually more intrigued by the mysterious technique used to create the door arch at the top. It’s a puzzle worth solving more than what’s behind the door.

The very beginning of eggsistence

Many people see LEGO building as art, me very much included, but there are examples of creations which take this a step further and fully embrace their artistic potential. Often depending on composition and built for one perfect picture, builds like this symbolic image of the beginning of a new life inspire many builders to keep improving and create stunning art from what is, in essence, a toy. Sad Brick has generated a great deal of interest with his latest creation and it would not be surprising seeing it serve as inspiration for the next generation of LEGO fans.

The build itself is very simple, as there are no more than three bricks connected into any of the elements here, but simplicity is sometimes exactly what we need to portray a message. Of course, this is not a simple image of a microscopic view of conception, because all the cells are replaced with different shapes of eggs. This adds a layer of ambiguity to the picture, and since the builder does not provide a description, only you can decide what the symbolism means!

For the love of Star Wars: A focus on Douglas Khoo

You never know what you’re going to get when you ask the right questions. Recently, we had the chance to speak with Douglas Khoo about his work. Douglas is a talented builder who seldom showcases his builds online, but does what he does for the love of it. If the builder’s name rings a bell, that’s because he was part of the crew that was invited to create and build an exhibit for the UNESCO’s Piece of Peace exhibition that will travel the world.

Douglas created this magnificent collage of LEGO Star Wars ships with a silent tribute to the Dark Side. This montage only took Douglas about two hours to complete, and if you did not already notice, it’s inspired by a similar piece by artist Louis C. Hébert from the Bleublancrouge advertising agency from the Star Wars Identities Exhibition over at the Montreal Science Centre, back in 2012. The difference though is Douglas makes use of the negative space a lot more to give the Star Wars ships a showcase of their own and individuality. If you still don’t see Vader there, squint your eyes, take a step back and look again!

When asked about how big a fan he was, Douglas’s answer was – you’ve got to be kidding me. That’s when we were introduced to a showcase of his other masterpieces which all center around the beloved Star Wars theme. With each of these builds, Douglas adds his own twists of interpretation and re-imagination to the scene.

Continue reading to see Douglas’s re-imagined LEGO Star Wars creations

Half a century later: Keeping the dream alive

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Though silenced half a century ago, the voice of this legendary American civil rights activist and leader rings thunderous today; his thoughts still quoted in speeches; the reach of his legacy reflected in thousands of public roads, buildings and spaces across the US that now bear his name. (I am actually writing this from King County, Washington.)

My simple tribute: King’s likeness (taken from a memorial plaque in Berlin) recreated with LEGO parts pushed together but not attached. Despite the progress we’ve made, it seems sometimes that the pieces are there but not all connected…

Feel the rush

The title of this work by Leonid An is called Deadline! and aptly depicts the molecular structure of epinephrine (more commonly known as adrenaline) and a shadowed clock with one minute until midnight. I really like the use of the magnifying glass and the T-bars for the hydroxyl groups. This totally takes me back to when I was in college organic chemistry ten years ago — minus the stress of studying for tests!