Description: This is
a VOA Special English General News Report.
See text below
Text:
Legos are not just for children. They can become
works of art in the hands of adults like Nathan
Sawaya.
NATHAN SAWAYA: I dont notice the time passing. I
just, this is what I do and I enjoy it. So I can
just work for hours without being interrupted.
Legos are made of plastic. Each piece is called a
brick. Bricks come in different colors and sizes.
NATHAN SAWAYA:I think the most important thing is
having a vision in my head before I start putting
down that first brick. And then it is just a matter
of putting the bricks together to make it look like
the vision I have.
Sawaya is one of a very few full-time Lego artists
in the United States. He creates works of art from
these simple building blocks.
NATHAN SAWAYA: "Although I work probably every
weekend and I work most nights, you know, Im doing
what I love so it doesnt feel like work."
For several years, Sawaya worked as a lawyer. That
left him little time for building Legos. But he
found enough time to set up a personal website.
NATHAN SAWAYA: "There was a day when my website,
brickartist.com, it crashed because it had too many
hits. So I realized, all right, it is time to make a
change because there was a viable market out there
to be an artist."
Sawaya says he has no regrets about his new career.
NATHAN SAWAYA: "The worst day as an artist is still
better than the best day as a lawyer. So I dont
regret my decision."
His art works have found their way into American
museums. This show was held at the Flinn Gallery in
Greenwich, Connecticut.
NATHAN SAWAYA:When I do the two-dimensional
portraits, it is a lot like painting because Im
using the Lego bricks as the paint essentially.
Sawaya uses Legos like a traditional artist uses
bronze, clay or paint.
BOY: "The pencil one."
GRANDMOTHER: "Oh, the pencil one! It looks like a
man carrying a very big pencil. See that? Would you
like to make something like this?"
BOY: "Yes, but look at that!"
GRANDMOTHER: "I know, thats really neat."
Adults see Lego art differently than children.
WILMA NACINOVICH: "The artist has said that he only
used rectangle pieces. And yet he manages to get
this roundness."
The head of the Flinn Gallery, Vivian Chen, has high
praise for Sawayas creations.
VIVIAN CHEN:"It is a person swimming in deep water.
The legs are kicking and the arms are doing the
freestyle motion. But what drew people to this is
that you could feel the flow of the water. You could
feel the action of the arms."
Some of his larger pieces sell for tens of thousands
of dollars. But he will not sell this one -- an
artist struggling to escape from the body of a
lawyer.
NATHAN SAWAYA: "It is still very personal. I put it
out there as part of the museum exhibit so it is
touring and people can go and enjoy it. But Im not
ready to have it going to someones house, you know,
someones office and never see it again."
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is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
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