IN PIECES is a mixed media collaboration between New York-based artist Nathan Sawaya and Australian photographer Dean West. The collection showcases a series of intricate life-sized LEGO creations paired with “hyper-realistic” photoscapes that feature the constructed works.

Best known for his unique LEGO creations, Sawaya is living every child’s dream as a sculptor who works nearly exclusively with plastic toy building blocks. Dean is an acclaimed photographer best known for his contemporary portraiture and vivid advertising campaigns. A seemingly bizarre artistic pairing, their joint vision has produced an aesthetically intriguing series with an underlying commentary on the American social landscape.

From afar, the pixilated LEGO creations are nearly hidden within Dean’s photographic works. I found the unsaturated color palates to have a Rockwellian aesthetic, drawing from the visual ideals of iconic Americana portraiture (purposely reminiscent of postcards.) Upon further inspection, the glazed expressions of the human subjects within each photo highlight a common thread of personal loneliness within their assembled surroundings. The LEGOS are a literal manifestation of this construction within a larger cultural shadow box.

The red gown is clearly the star of the exhibit, a comparatively bold exception to the more subtle works within the gallery. Constructed using over fifty thousand pieces, the elaborate project began with a similar dress made of fabric that was then fit to the model in Dean’s photograph. During the fitting, the movement and natural shape of the original dress were digitized into a 3D pattern for Sawaya’s LEGO replica. This piece is an achievement in costume design, marrying the fashion and art worlds.

For more information on IN PIECES: www.inpiecescollection.com
Sawaya’s works and upcoming exhibits: www.brickartist.com/exhibitions
Dean West’s portfolio: www.deanwest.com

On a cold Sunday afternoon earlier this month, I huddled inside a Parsons lecture hall full of graphic animation enthusiasts from all over the world. Pictoplasma is an annual conference based in Berlin that brings together the world’s most innovative graphic designers and character animators for a weekend of lectures and screenings. The world of graphic animation is something I’ve always admired from a distance but was foreign in reality. It’s hard to envision an industry that lies behind non-human characters on a screen! I walked into the conference unsure of what to expect but left completely inspired.

Throughout the afternoon I sat in on lectures given by artists Julia Pott and Adrian Sonni. While their works and design styles differ greatly, they share a common thread of personal emotions that are manifested in their respective designs. Hearing each artist describe their creative processes made the world of graphic animation feel decidedly more accessible.

Julia Pott
First and foremost, Julia brought homemade cookies to the lecture (best way to win me over!)

I’ve admired Julia’s work for a while, thanks to her previously profiled projects on YM&C. At Pictoplasma she took the audience through a narrated timeline of her works, interjecting personal anecdotes about love and life along the way & giving emotional context to her already well-known pieces. It’s not often that you get a peek into the coming-of-age of an artist, but I found her honestly and humor highly relatable.

At age twenty-six, Julia is already extremely well respected in her field. Aside from crafting short films “Belly” and most recently “The Event“, she has produced commissioned works for bands like Bat For Lashes and holiday window displays for Hermes. She also maintains an Etsy shop for supplementary income (she recommends that all budding artists do this).

Inspired by the often twisted world of love and the tough reality of growing up, Julia’s animated characters depict movement and emotion in a way “you cant do in live action but should be able to.” I most enjoyed hearing about how her creativity is sparked by existing prose. She starts each project by indentifying a quote or two (from a movie, song, poem, etc), claiming, “Sometimes you need clichés because they get your point across.”

What I took away from Julia’s talk is that it’s important to let your imagination run wild. She creates characters and storylines based no her darkest and most personally frightening emotions. Challenging herself through design allows her to play out “weird conclusions” without directly exploiting her personal vulnerabilities. She has seemingly developed as a person through her character development.

Adrian Sonni
Everything about Sonni’s work makes me smile. Drawing from his favorite emotions and activities as a child (happiness, friendship, music, fun, and discovery), he is best known for creating three-color design sets using simple character icons placed in an imaginary world. As a child in Argentina he was obsessed with Legos and doodling. He created his own set of icons and would tag the streets of Buenos Aires with small painted characters on his way to school (he views street art as “instant happiness”).

Previously employed in corporate advertising, his career has now come full circle. He has recently been commissioned by some of the world’s largest brands to design character sets (Coca Cola, Nickelodeon, Match.com, Hello Kitty) and says that his favorite part of his new career is seeing his sketches become tangible products.

What I love about Sonni’s work is its multi-generational appeal. He has most recently concentrated on designs for children but has an idealistic aesthetic that simultaneously connects with adults. Now a resident of Brooklyn, his latest work is stylistically consistent with his childhood designs. Most importantly, he is genuinely passionate about his art and strives to inspire the same sense of happiness in others through his work.

“I look out the window and I see the lights and the skyline and the people on the street rushing around looking for action, love, and the world’s greatest chocolate chip cookie, and my heart does a little dance.” — Nora Ephron, Heartburn

I think the true sign of being at home in New York City, rather than just calling it home, is eventually possessing the ability to transcend the constant chaos and establish a sense of community and personal routine within your neighborhood. After nearly four years, I think I’m finally there. The buzzing streets provide comforting ambient noise. The honking taxis that used to make me want to scream are now barely audible. Merely walking down the cobblestone streets of SoHo with my headphones on makes me feel like I’m living in a movie.

In Manhattan, there is never a shortage of “the best” restaurants, plays, exhibits, shopping, etc- or a lack of opinions of what you must do/eat/see while visiting town. That being said, I couldn’t possibly present a guide to New York City without feeling guilty for imposing my tailored routine in a city with virtually endless options. Instead, here are a few places, experiences, and visuals that make me feel at home in SoHo. Enjoy!

Collages are an accessible art form. Even if you are not the most confident painter or technically skilled sketch artist, you can still easily produce a creative masterpiece assembled from existing visuals. In middle school I spent hours pouring over magazines, creating hodge-podges of my favorite cutouts on textbook covers, binders, and bulletin boards. Recent You, Me and Charlie spotlights on various mixed media masters like DAIN, Chad Wys, and Cody Rocko have reinvigorated my love for all things collage. Now I’ve been able to introduce my two little step-brothers to collage art (not just for girls!) and plan to spend some downtime during the holidays clipping and pasting (not just for kids!)

Collages are so flexible in form that it made it difficult to pick just a few from our  Collage Art Creative Challenge to highlight from a spectrum of submissions and techniques. Above are a few favorites that caught my eye!

And below are a few that I threw together recently:

The best gifts evoke unmanufactured emotion. A hearty laugh, gasp of surprise, eyes that fill with tears – all signs that you have chosen the perfect present. The below list is a hodge-podge of my favorite things at the moment, curated to spark your imagination for the holiday season.

These are a few of my favorite things (at the moment)….