Tag Archives: Mattia Careddu

Ringing in Autumn with some hot proboscis action

On the calendar and in accordance with dropping temperatures around here, Autumn is being shown the door by Old Man Winter. However, in  Mattia Careddu‘s world, Autumn is just arriving as evidenced by their latest LEGO creation. Here we see a dynamic duo; first up is the red spider lily (Lycoris radiata), the Japanese flower that symbolizes the arrival of Autumn. Next on the docket is what appears to be a hummingbird but it’s Macroglossum stellatarum, a kind of moth called the hummingbird hawkmoth that behaves exactly like a hummingbird. I’ve found the hummingbirds around my feeders to be hyper-intense, territorial, and belligerent toward one another so, in this regard, some people also act like hummingbirds. This duo is doing birds and bees stuff. If you haven’t yet been made privy to “the talk” I advise you ask someone else. Or Google it.

Autumn's Calling

The builder is no stranger to life-size flowers and unusual insects. We also like this Sri Lankan duo.

LEGO seen through a glass, darkly

The artful LEGO creations of Mattia Careddu are more than they first appear to be. Two forms stand on opposite sites of a mirror – an elegant robot and a black fantasy monstrosity. Which is truth and which an illusion? Mattia’s build is striking, both as three separate models and as an evocatively staged tableau. I love the retro robot with a slight tip to its head. The mirror frame is simple but effective, especially at this large scale. But it’s that shocking red background contrasting with the sand green and inky black that turns the scene into dreamy technicolor phantasmagoria.

Hidden in Plain Sight

The lotus and the damselfly

Mattia Careddu takes us on a journey to Sri Lanka with a LEGO version of the Nymphaea Nouchali, or Blue Lotus, the country’s national flower. The model makes good use of  Hero Factory cocoon elements as petals, and syringes double as stamens. Admiring the flower is a Prodasineura Sita, a species of damselfly endemic to the island nation. Minifig hands make for excellent hairs on the delicate insect’s spindly legs. Care Creation regularly finds inspiration in unusual LEGO elements or subjects not typically seen in LEGO models. This tiny model does both!

Journey to Sri Lanka

A beautifully tragic ending: Madama Butterfly

Inspired by the opera “Madama Butterfly”, builder  Care Creations has combined LEGO elements from the long-retired SCALA theme, last seen in the early 2000’s, with pieces from the recently released “Avatar” theme to create a snippet of this early 20th century masterpiece. The wings from  “75572 Jake & Neytiri’s First Banshee Flight” are creatively used for the main character’s butterfly outfit. However, arguably taking more attention, the builder has also given us another significant character from the opera: the flowering cherry tree, constructed using curved brown elements and purple leaves. In this scene, we see the main character in the 3rd act of the opera, taking her own life as she gives up her baby (a LEGO SCALA element) to her betrayer, the American naval officer.

Madama Butterlfy

Galidor bites back!

Do you remember Galidor? I remember, and by the looks of this LEGO model, Care Creations does too! One of the sets in the infamous LEGO action figure line was the TDN Module; a large blue flying shuttle that could fit a figure inside, but was only made of nine parts! I think Care must have left their TDN out in the sun too long. This one has grown eyes, tentacles, and teeth! Spare a thought for the armored figure, and his electric chest plate, caught in the TDN’s grip. How’s he going to get out of this one?

Love is an angel disguised in LEGO

Android, angel, lust… a figure soars on Chima wings, gently carrying their lover across a sea of stars. This evocative scene from Care Creations shows how how much emotion can be constructed out of simple bricks. The composition is incredible. Two grey metal bodies built from System and constraction parts look weightless between those incredible wings above and a finger drawing ripples in the sky below. The one pop of color — a shock of orange braid made from interlaced orange clips — draws the eye to the scene’s subject, an automata conveying a feeling of safety and yearning in the hands of a lover. In the background, an assortment of round tiles on a paper moon add to the tranquility.

Because the Night

With its square composition, the scene could be an album cover, which is appropriate as Care Creations named the work Because the Night, after one of the all-time great love songs.

Keeping score on the Andean Quipu

One of the benefits of being a TBB contributor (besides limited use of the headquarters hot tub) is you learn new things about the world. Take this rather unconventional LEGO creation by Mattia Careddu for example. Is it the newest trend on the catwalk? Or is it some sort of facehugger monster? It turns out, it’s an Andean Quipu, a device, according to the internet, used for recording everything from tax information to land ownership to census records to military organization during the time of the Inka Empire. Highly specialized Quipu readers were even hired to read the complex series of fiber and knots in order to settle court cases. The only thing I can decipher from this particular LEGO creation is that someone can tie a sweet figure-eight knot. However, a skilled reader would surmise that I probably shouldn’t have claimed my dogs as dependants on my taxes. Also, I’ve been denied access to the TBB hot tub.

Andean Quipu

A little brain can be a dangerous thing

Boy, industrial containment standards sure have fallen lately, as evident in this LEGO build by Care Creations of one of the more disturbing video game bosses I have seen since Resident Evil, Mother Brain from Metroid. Clearly, if a giant brain can break their glass prison this easily, someone in the QA department deserves to get fired, if they didn’t get devoured by Mother Brain first.

Mother Brain

A huge collaboration takes on the Pokémon Ultra Beasts!

I love it when a great LEGO collaboration comes together! A group of friends built the Pokémon Ultra Beasts and the end result is pure gold. Take Aidan Hayward’s Celesteela, for example. This is one of the dangerous UBs, (that’s Ultra Beasts) high energy readings can be detected coming from both of its huge arms.

UB-04 Blaster: Celesteela

Celesteela brought friends. Lots of them!

How Anomalocaris, Opabinia, and the Cambrian Explosion changed my life

The broad range of wonderful LEGO creations built for events like the annual BioCup often spark odd memories of my own life experiences. This beautiful Anomalocaris by Care Creations reminded me of Stephen Jay Gould’s 1989 book Wonderful Life, which first introduced me to the panoply of fantastic lifeforms that emerged during the Cambrian Explosion over half a billion years ago. The book changed my view of how life emerged and evolved on our planet, as well as how scientific understanding itself evolves — both mind-blowing to a young missionary kid. One of the strengths of Bionicle is the system’s ability to reproduce organic shapes, enabling talented builders to create much more than Toa.

Anomalocaris Spectrum

I love the minifigure hands on the ends of Anomalocaris’ tentacles, as well as all the smaller creatures the builder has included to give the impression of the early arthropod in its natural habitat.

If you enjoyed this ancient sea creature as much as I did, you’ll love these other Cambrian creatures, as well as this beautiful LEGO ammonite (though of course ammonites emerged about a hundred million years later).

A taste of nectar on another world

Meet the Epyft, an alien being created by Mattia Careddu. This LEGO creature brings to mind a hummingbird crossed with a butterfly, as its long mouth reaches down to the bright blooming flower, drinking up all the rich nectar. No doubt the sugar is needed for the energy to stay in the air. The flower and the surrounding foliage feature so many cool parts to create something out of this world! Bionicle masks give the translucent green plants and blue flowers cool shapes and textures. Speaking of Bionicle masks, they’re also used for the creature’s sides, but that’s not the coolest bit of parts usage for this build. The creature’s body is a fun use of a torso piece from the Galidor toy line, produced by LEGO in 2002 for the sci-fi kids show by the same name.

Epyft