As a kid (and adult) who loved her LEGO blocks, my heart skips a beat when seeing these enormous sculptures. Built and installed as a part of Sean Kenney‘s traveling exhibition, Nature Connects, these 27 larger-than-life sculptures feature a zoo’s worth of animals – a fox, fish, frogs, rabbits, flowers, butterflies – as well as some stunning garden plants.
Using nearly half a million LEGO pieces, the New York based artist Kenney and his team of assistants glued together these large works which range in size from 6 inches to nearly 8 feet. The largest sculpture, a mother bison, was made from 45,143 bricks. Taking anywhere from 60 hours to six weeks to build, each sculpture includes 2,300 to almost 50,000 pieces, with many requiring a steel frame for support. Kenney explains, “Working with the medium brings new and exciting forms to sculpture, dictated by a limited palette, grids, and blocky forms. Overcoming these challenges is exciting and rewarding for both the artist and the viewer.”
You can visit these sculptures at Reiman Gardens (part of Iowa State University) now through October 28, 2012. The Reiman Gardens is the first public garden in the country to display sculptures made from LEGO® bricks.
Click here to view more photos of the sculptures.
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