LINED UP FOR BLOCKS: BRICK UNIVERSE LEGO CONVENTION

Many of us fondly remember lying on the floor arguing with our siblings over which pieces we needed for our work of art made of tiny plastic bricks.

The nostalgia is still alive and well at the traveling convention of Lego artists widely known as BrickUniverse.

Upon walking through the door of the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, one could not help but turn into an 8-yearold child again.

In February, the BrickUniverse Lego convention displayed a wide range of Lego sculptures, including actual building sets from every era, fantastical creations from the minds of Lego masters, and intricate artworks that were nothing short of amazing.

In addition, VIP entrants received a souvenir identification badge made of, you guessed it, Legos.

Vendors sold custom Lego mini-figures and hard-to-find Lego sets at the two-day sold-out convention.

Once the doors opened to the general admission crowd, the entire convention center flooded with children and adults alike to view the creations on display and rub elbows with some of the artists.

In the back corner were several large banquet tables piled high with loose Legos for patrons to build whatever they wanted. The displays featured were everything from dioramas, architecture, artwork, historic Lego sets, realistic models and custom fantasy creations.

Some of the diorama scenes included the stay-puff marshmallow man scene from “Ghostbusters,” an Elvis Presley concert, a Prince concert and too many more to mention.

The flat panel artworks were particularly intriguing, some completely two-dimensional, others using a technique called “greebles,” where the artist uses various random type pieces to create artwork with texture.

An excellent example of this technique in action is the Joker panel and the Miles Morales

Spider-Man panel.

Artists even made some art panels in such a way that if you walked past them, the image would change, not unlike the little corrugated plastic pictures found in a Cracker-Jack box, only bigger and made of Legos.

Lego artist Lia Chan from Dallas enthusiastically shared her research methods on how she designed and built her massive International Space Station model.

“Lots and lots of pictures and 3D renderings,” Chan laughs.

“The ISS took me 10 days, I think, to finish it.” The meticulous attention to detail in this piece is quite astonishing in person, and the camera struggles to capture the scope of the project.

Nevertheless, Chan’s exhibit remained extremely popular throughout the day, and she was cheerfully available for questions.

Another fascinating Lego artist showcasing his work was Paul Hetherington of Vancouver, Canada. Hetherington recreated scenes from “Grease,” “Purple Rain” and “Scooby Doo, but the most mesmerizing was a custom model that he calls “Unchain My Heart.”

The model looks like a reallife steampunk-style android, complete with a top hat, but it is extraordinary because it is completely life-size.

The display of the mechanical man is a torso-up model holding a mechanical “heart,” hence the name of the piece.

On a personal note, just inside the doors of BrickUniverse was a tribute model of the former World Trade Center and the 9-11 memorial.

Plaques in memoriam of one of the most tragic and humbling days in our nation’s history accompanied the models serving as solemn reminders that the U.S. is not untouchable.

While Legos continue to capture our sense of wonder, BrickUniverse continues to remind us that our achievements are only limited by our imaginations.

BY JESSE CAIN