Artist Sean Kenney's animal sculptures made entirely from LEGO bricks are on display at LaSalle Landing this winter.
"Animal Super Powers is an exhibition here at the LaSalle event centre featuring sculptures built entirely out of LEGO bricks that showcase all the awesome super powers that you see in nature. But also a bit about how they're not too much unlike you and me," said Kenney.
Kenney said he goes from idea, to sketch to electronic 3-D model before he builds the sculpture brick by brick.
"I create all of these sculptures with regular, off-the-shelf LEGO pieces. There's nothing here that you can't find in a toy store, no special shapes, no special colours," said Kenney. "Using the basic rectangular LEGO bricks I can really create any type of shape that I can imagine."
In total, there are 1.3 million LEGO pieces in all of the sculptures at the exhibit. In took the artist over 9,000 hours to design and build them all.
"I want these to feel alive, I want there to be a magic to it and I want people to be really inspired and excited and who knows maybe I am inspiring the builders of tomorrow," said Kenney.
In addition to the LEGO sculptures, there is an interactive play area set up for visitors to try their hand at building their own LEGO sculptures.
"I think that's one of the things that's most inspiring about creating art with LEGO bricks, you can actually imagine yourself doing it," said Kenney.
This is the first long-term exhibit being hosted at LaSalle Landing, LaSalle's new event centre on Front Road.
"I'm hearing a lot of people of different ages really excited to be able to come and see the sculptures, being able to be part of the interactive zone where they can build their own things. I think we're going to see people of all ages coming out to enjoy this," said LaSalle Mayor Crystal Meloche.
The exhibit is open on Thursday and Friday evenings from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The space will also host school field trips, birthday parties and private events.
The exhibit opens to the public on Thursday January 25, 2024 and runs until April 6, 2024. General Admission is $13. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online.