More than 10 million people have seen Nathan Sawaya’s art — that’s as many people who saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre last year.
But when they see Sawaya’s work, they tend to focus on the medium — especially if they happen to step on one of his tools in the dark while putting their kids to bed.
See, Sawaya’s medium is Legos.
It’s been almost 20 years since Sawaya debuted his work in the exhibit, "The Art of the Brick." He creates original sculptures out of one of our favorite childhood toys. He also re-imagines masterpieces like Michelangelo’s David and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” — all completely out of Legos.
Since then, Sawaya’s exhibit has toured in more than 100 cities around the world, and it’s finally come to South Florida. The “Art of the Brick” opens Saturday at the Olympia Theater in downtown Miami.
His work is more than recreations. It’s a specific artistic vision — a combination of Surrealism and Pop Art, expressed one brick at a time.
It’s fun. But it’s also thought-provoking. Some of it’s moody, and you can tell it’s deeply personal to the world’s foremost LegoManiac.
On the Jan. 25 episode of Sundial, we talk with Nathan about his journey to becoming the Lego artist.
On Sundial's previous episode, Guy Michel, a Palm Beach County-based improvisational cellist and entertainer who performs across South Florida told us about challenging the status quo and taking risks with his cello.
Listen to Sundial Monday through Thursday on WLRN, 91.3 FM, live at 1 p.m., rebroadcast at 8 p.m. Missed a show? Find every episode of Sundial on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.
