This piece began as a study in portraiture—an attempt to capture raw human presence using only LEGO bricks. It was the artist’s second portrait in this medium, and a deep dive into how much can be expressed with such rigid, unforgiving materials.

The eyes became the anchor. Zapata’s gaze—intense, direct, almost confrontational—demanded months of careful adjustment. Each tiny piece around the eye line had to serve a purpose: to suggest volume, emotion, and life where none should be possible.

Cooler blue-grey tones were chosen deliberately to offset the heat of his stare, to balance tension with calm. The result is a face that both pulls you in and holds you at a distance, asking to be looked at—but not passively.

Though inspired by an iconic Mexican figure, this piece is less a historical statement than a technical and emotional exploration: how far can one push a medium known for play, and what does it take to make plastic feel alive