The Art of Brick, an exhibit which displays the amazing works of Nathan Sawaya, this Saturday, August 23rd at the American Swedish Historical Museum. Nathan took the time to sit down with us and answered a few questions. We’ll have a video of him and his awesome creations online shortly. Til than, read the interview, and learn more about the exhibit on the American Swedish Historical Museum’s official website.

1. What inspired you to quit your job as a lawyer?

I have always been an art person, and even as a lawyer, I would come home at night and create something. It was almost my therapy to come home from a long day and be creative, be it drawing, painting or sculpting. It was about eight years ago that I challenged myself to create a large scale sculpture using just LEGO bricks. It got a good response, so I did a few other pieces and soon put photos of my work up on my website, brickartist.com. I was soon getting commissions from all over the world. It was the day my website crashed from too many hits that I realized I had a viable career, so four years ago I left the law firm to pursue my creative passion.

2. Why did you choose LEGO?
I have sculpted with many media over the years, including traditional media such as clay and wire, and not so traditional such as candy and bottle caps. However, people can really relate to my LEGO sculptures in a way that they do not to more traditional sculptures. I think it has something to do with people seeing my LEGO works and becoming inspired themselves. Folks may not have slabs of marble in their homes, but they do have this toy, LEGO, so they relate to my work differently. In fact, my museum exhibits draw kids into art museums, that might not normally attend, but do so because they are so familiar with this toy.

3. What is your favorite work and Why?
My favorite sculpture is the next one. I love taking on new challenges, and I get excited when I am inspired to build a new project.

Out of the sculptures that are being exhibited at the American Swedish Historical Museum, I have a few favorites. I really like a sculpture I did called Sing, which is a representation of a musical note, with the bulbous part of the note being a human head. I was inspired after seeing a friend singing as she seemed to become the music. Another favorite would be my sculpture Grasp which is a full size human figure that is being held back by many arms coming from the wall behind him. This piece came to me after so many people were telling me “No” about what I was doing.

4. If you could make anything in Philly out of LEGO pieces, what would it be?
I think I like the idea of doing a representation of Robert Indiana’s sculpture Philadelphia Love. It would be a great project.