The Art of the Personal Project: Andrei Duman

Today’s featured artist: Andrei Duman

Organogenesis: Building Blocks of Life

Andrei Duman x Nathan Sawaya Collaboration

Organogenesis as a concept was born out of my continued attempt to cope with my mother’s fast progressing dementia. I struggled to comprehend the notion that her brain was gradually breaking down, almost piece by piece, brick by brick and I needed to create something to help me come to terms with it. LEGO® bricks, in their most basic form, are simple building blocks and found the juxtaposing analogy of what one can create with them fascinating to represent the imagery.

In scientific terms, Organogeneis is the series of organized integrated processes that transforms an amorphous mass of cells into a complete organ. But on a creative note, I hope this visual concept will help emphasize the fragility of the human body and how we always need to take better care of it. By aspiring to create what has become one of my most personal bodies of work, I partnered with LEGO® master builder Nathan Sawaya. The Organogeneis collection showcases 13 of the most integral human organs and the massive endeavor took 16 months to complete. In terms of physical scale, the skull organ alone is over 40” tall, uses over 36,000 bricks and weighs over 65lbs.

Nathan Sawaya – LEGO® Masterbuilder

“When I was approached by Andrei with his concept to work together on a project to showcase different elements of the human body, I was instantly excited and quickly realized it was something that had never been explored before. Andrei’s understanding of how to work with color and his attention to detail made him a great collaborating partner and when his photography is combined with the actual LEGO® sculptures, I believe it makes for a truly unique project.”

Andrei Duman x Recom Farmhouse Collaboration

This project was a massive undertaking and could not have been completed without the help of world-class post production house – Recom Farmhouse. From the very beginning, they were instrumental in the retouching work for the images as well as contributing to the joint effort of the creative direction of the LEGO® brick flows. They meticulously arranged them, at times brick by brick, into the unique fluid pattern one sees in the final images. Over 220 hours were spent across the team for this project, and I am beyond thrilled with the way they all turned out.

Andrei Duman x Phase One Collaboration

The project was very complex in nature and demanded the type of gear that would allow for the final images to feel almost lifelike. All images were captured on the world’s most advanced camera system – the 151 mega pixel Phase One IQ4 which boasts unrivaled image quality and industry leading color accuracy. The Phase One provided me with that flexible workflow to achieve my creative vision, all in the highest resolution possible.