Nathan Sawaya was born on July 10, 1973, in Colville, Washington, and raised in Veneta, Oregon. Sawaya attended New York University, and he has a bachelor's and a law degree. In 2004, Nathan Sawaya left his job as an attorney to become a full-time LEGO artist.  After working for the LEGO company for less than six months,  He opened an art studio in NewYork City. His artworks have grasped the attention of many well-known artists and critics around the world. Sawaya is the first contemporary artist that used legos as his primary source. He has innovated the use of lego not only as a toy that is for little kids, but also made it possible to be as a beautiful art piece.     

 

Nathan Sawaya fits to our gallery because he is one of the pioneers of making lego as an art piece. Furthermore, people have thought legos was just a toy that was meant for kids. But, Nathan Sawaya believes that lego is more than just a small toy that was meant to be connected to replicate cartoons or little house sets. That is why he should fit into our gallery because we believe that legos are intended to be treated as an art piece. Furthermore, Nathan Sawaya not only shows that legos are toys, but also a piece of art that people can admire at any age.    

 

 Nathan Sawaya is also known for his achieving human emotion and problems in his artworks. Although the artworks are amusing to see, Sawaya incorporates the good and bad of the humans' behavior. From love to stress to depression to happiness, Nathan Sawaya uses these emotions to tell the audiences that legos are not only for kids but also a tool to tell a story of life.     

 

The name of the top picture is Yellow. The image shows that there is more information about a person from the inside rather than the outside. Right below the Yellow, the name of the picture is Grasp. "Grasp" shows how humans suffer from the pain and agony from their depression and stress. Furthermore, this picture depicts how not resolving our problem will grasp and haunt us forever. Right below Grasp, the picture's name is Red Cracked. Grey Cracked shows how a person can feel overwhelmed with mental stress from personal issues to the point that he or she would love to crack their head into two. The Circle Triangle Square shows how everyone might look different from the outside but also show how everyone is a human been. Furthermore, the "Circle Triangle Square" also explains how we should not judge a person from their outward appearance. The last picture, "Love," shows how everyone in the world has the same depiction of love. Although everyone is different from their culture and social representation of love, we as humans show the same reaction as anyone else to the person that they love the most. All these pictures relate to our gallery theme because they show that these toys can also be used to tell stories of human emotion and reality of life.