Bio

Gregory Mayer is a contemporary artist best known for a distinctive painterly practice that extends beyond traditional paint through the use of unconventional materials, most notably LEGO building blocks. Working with thousands of small plastic bricks—objects commonly associated with childhood and everyday play—Mayer constructs complex, large-scale portrait works that are both visually precise and materially complex.

Mayer’s portraits are built entirely by hand, one brick at a time. Each composition requires careful planning and execution, beginning with image development and digital preparation, and culminating in a grid structure that guides the physical construction. To achieve a more nuanced color range, Mayer frequently paints individual LEGO bricks, thereby going beyond the limitations of commercially available sets. The resulting surfaces are dense, textured, and materially layered. From a distance, the works often read as highly realistic images, at times resembling photographic portraits. As the viewer approaches, however, the illusion breaks down, revealing the LEGO bricks' underlying pixelated structure. The image shifts depending on the viewer’s position, changing subtly as one moves from side to side. This spatial variability gives the works a sculptural presence, encouraging close inspection from multiple angles and emphasizing their constructed nature.

While Mayer’s technical process is central to the visual impact of his work, the choice of subject remains equally important. His portraits are carefully selected, and the meaning of each work is anchored in the image itself rather than in the novelty of the medium. As such, the final works function not merely as demonstrations of technique, but as considered outcomes in which material, image, and subject are closely aligned. The production of a single work often spans several months. Mayer’s process includes extensive preparation, image research, post-processing, physical construction, surface refinement, and the creation of custom-made frames. This methodical approach underscores the labor-intensive nature of the work and the degree of control exercised at every stage of production.

Gregory Mayer (born 1976, California, United States) received his artistic training at Monterey Peninsula College, the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Arizona State University, and the Instituto Allende in Mexico. He currently lives and works between Scottsdale, Arizona, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.