There are few issues on the planet as iconic as a Lego piece. Whether or not you grew up taking part in with them or not, it’s inarguable that Legos are omnipresent and have been since their Danish inception within the Nineteen Thirties. Legos’ brilliance lies of their simplicity, but they are often the constructing blocks of concepts and creations which are something however.
Vancouver-based multimedia artist Katherine Duclos has taken the artistic potential of Legos to the intense, first changing into acquainted with the medium whereas taking part in with them together with her three-year-old son. He was recognized as autistic, so Duclos served as his parallel play co-regulator, and Legos have been usually his toy of alternative. Duclos’s fascination with Legos grew from there and has erupted into her artistic follow of fastidiously crafting works of Lego artwork in eye-catching coloration palettes organized in satisfying configurations.
Wanting to be taught extra about her course of and the journey behind her Lego artwork, I reached out to Duclos with just a few questions that she’s answered under.
Why Legos? What’s it about Lego items as a medium that speaks to you a lot as an artist?
I really like the immediacy of it. It’s satisfying to the touch and is so direct. I began utilizing Lego as a result of it was my son’s particular curiosity when he was three to 6 years previous. All he wished to do on a regular basis was Lego, and he required a parallel play co-regulator with him always. “Mama, do you need to construct with me?” was uttered so continuously day-after-day, that I had to determine a means to make use of Lego in a means I discovered satisfying too.
My son is a whiz on the units; he’s seven now and about to complete the 6,000 piece Hogwarts fortress he constructed all by himself. He’s been constructing units that have been above his age since he was three, so he’s fairly gifted spatially. However I really actually battle with the units as a result of my mind can’t course of the diagram instructions spatially, so I make lots of errors they usually take me a very long time.
To ensure that me to get pleasure from Lego, I needed to simply begin seeing it as a modular coloration materials, not as a way of constructing three dimensional buildings. As soon as I noticed the potential as an summary coloration course of, I used to be proper again to utilizing coloration as a way of externalizing an inner order.
You say in your Instagram profile that you simply’re an “AuDHD artist.” Are you able to describe what meaning precisely? How does this impression your creative follow?
I found my Autistic-ADHD neurodivergence in my 40’s after each of my kids have been recognized autistic. It seems apples don’t fall removed from the tree, and we all know much more about neurodivergent brains now than we did within the 80’s. Once I was a child, I’d spend hours arranging coloured wood sample blocks on our flooring to create intricate mosaics that I wouldn’t let my mom clear up. I’m nonetheless placing coloration so as all these years later.
My want to leap round from materials to materials is a direct results of my ADHD and dopamine looking for, however it was nearly what stopped me from being allowed to complete my thesis in grad college. Artists are sometimes anticipated to develop a signature model or course of they are often acknowledged by, however I by no means wished to be restricted. I can’t separate how or what I make from how my mind works now that I perceive myself higher.
Every brick I put down informs the following. There’s all the time a rhythm that dictates the place the colours get put in my work, however it’s inner.
Katherine Duclos
What’s your typical course of on your Lego artworks? Do you utilize different supplies at first to plot them out? Or do you begin immediately from the Legos themselves? How lengthy does one piece usually take?
My course of has modified because the early coloration constructions I made in 2021. These have been made as irregular shapes beginning with small bases in a selected palette that have been then paired with a coloured paper background and framed. I normally begin by choosing a coloration means for each bit— initially I simply used Lego colours, however now I continuously paint them.
The primary items have been initially proven in a well known espresso store with an artwork program, hooked up to Emily Carr College (an artwork college right here in Vancouver). Michael, the curator of the espresso store (yeah, it had a curator), messaged me on Instagram and requested if I’d be desirous about doing a present. We each thought the Lego work had some enchantment and wished to only have a enjoyable present. I known as it “Mama Do You Wish to Construct with Me?” and I believe I made 24 items.
After that present, I began getting fee requests and had just a few items go to galleries within the states, and one in a present with Studio Archive Venture curated by Leslie Roberts. I began portray them for a solo present right here in Vancouver at THIS Gallery in 2022. My newest group is a mixture of closely painted irregular constructions hooked up to wood panels, in addition to small sculptures and bigger framed panels. Not too long ago they went viral on Instagram, which has introduced me lots of consideration.
Each bit varies in how lengthy it takes me and I usually do time lapse movies of the builds, as I discover folks like watching them. I by no means plan or plot them out, the identical as all my work— it’s all instinctual responses within the second. Every brick I put down informs the following. There’s all the time a rhythm that dictates the place the colours get put in my work, however it’s inner.
What’s your studio area arrange like? I’m imagining mass quantities of bins and bins crammed with Lego items sorted by coloration!
I work from home, which is nice for the Lego work as a result of it’s enabled my youngsters to remain a big a part of the method. I usually purchase massive bulk collections of previous Lego that I then spend weeks sorting, like 75 kilos of Lego without delay. I’ve color-coded drawer bins together with luggage of additional bricks sorted; so when my yellow bin will get low, I can pull from the reserve luggage in storage.
I purchase a good quantity of used bricks on Bricklink, a second-hand Lego market. There are lots of colours that Lego has retired—like my favourite Sand Crimson—and Bricklink is without doubt one of the solely locations to get them. I additionally frequent Lego shops and “Choose-a-Brick” partitions.
There’s Lego in each room of our home. My son has an uncanny means to know the place each bit got here from and who it belongs to, so we maintain them straight.
Has Lego the model ever acknowledged your work in any means? Do you will have any aspirations of doing a collaboration with them?
I heard from somebody at Lego final week really, with guarantees of additional communication and potential collaboration so I’m hopeful. I’d like to design an summary set for them.
