Austin-based artist Shawn Smith creates 3D sculptures that look like pixelated images. He slices sheets of plywood into 3/4 inch cubes, dyes them, and then glues them together. Smith writes:
For the past few years, I have been creating a series of "Re-things." These whimsical sculptures represent pixilated animals and objects of nature. I find images of my subjects online and then create three-dimensional sculptural representations of these two-dimensional images. I build my "Re-things" pixel by pixel to understand how each pixel plays a crucial role in the identity of an object. Through the process of pixilation, color is distilled, some bits of information are lost, and the form is abstracted. Making the intangible tangible, I view my building process as an experiment in alchemy, using man-made composite and recycled materials to represent natural forms.
Link via Technabob | Video about the Creation Process | Image: Shawn Smith
What I do not understand is why he can't just use Legos for this? Is slicing sheets of plywood into 3/4 inch cubes, dyeing them, and gluing them together integral to the point he is trying to make? That seems wasteful and labor-intensive when there are already Legos on the shelf readily available.
That is my guess as to why he does not use legos.