‘I get to show people they can build what’s in their imagination’
For Ryan ‘Brickman’ Mcnaught, his love of LEGO began at an early age. However, it wasn’t until he became a dad that he rediscovered his passion for the colourful, buildable bricks. He told Chic,“i got my very first LEGO set from my grandmother, when I was three years old.
“And I loved LEGO as a kid — I thought it was super duper awesome.
“But it wasn’t until we had kids — I have twin boys — that I found out my mum had kept my LEGO.
“She was like,‘well, here’s all your stuff back, now that you’ve got your own kids’ — and my LEGO collection was in it.
“And I was like,‘i remember how awesome this is’, and it basically all went on from there.”
Ryan told how he“definitely”feels that the views towards LEGO have changed over the years — and how there’s a“sort of reengaged audience” now.
He said,“there’s a few things that have happened in that space — the first being Covid, when we had lockdowns and obviously people were looking for hobbies and things to do.
“A lot of people rediscovered how awesome LEGO was during the pandemic, and that was super great.
“And of course, what LEGO have done over the last 10 years is that they’ve introduced
LEGO for adults.
“They really thought about what it is that LEGO fans are looking for, what kind of builds they want to do, subject matter — we’ve really seen quite a change, and a sort of reengaged audience, if that makes any sense.
“It’s funny. I mean, I’ve been doing this job for a while. About 20 years ago, when I was getting back into LEGO — there was no LEGO stores at all back then, but if I went into a department store or a toy store to get some LEGO, everyone would instantly assume that you’re buying it for kids or you’re buying it for family members; never that you would be buying it for an adult.
“But that social taboo, it’s kind of gone now — and it’s super cool to do LEGO now.”
Ryan is also one of 21 LEGO Certified Professionals in the world — and the only one in the Southern Hemisphere.
The LCP programme is made up of people who have turned their love for the LEGO brick and system into a full-time or part-time profession.
And Ryan told how they all got their LEGO Certified Professional status in different ways — and all“do different things”with it.
He continued,“for example, I do LEGO Masters, write children’s books and do exhibitions and things like that.
“Other colleagues of mine — I have one, she uses LEGO to teach kids mathematics
Ryan ‘Brickman’ Mcnaught on his love of LEGO and Bricktionary: The Interactive Exhibition... By Keeley Ryan
and complex things like that. We all do different things in different ways.
“Being a LEGO Certified Professional, it’s a unique way to show off what LEGO bricks can do and how they can get used and inspire people.
“It’s kind of my way of showing LEGO off, I guess.
“It’s funny, we get together every year
— we go over to Denmark, which is where LEGO is based.
“We get to hang out for a week or so, and it’s incredibly inspiring to see what everyone else is doing with it. It’s always fun.”
Ryan was speaking ahead of the European debut of Bricktionary: The Interactive Exhibition in Dublin next month.
The exhibit — which has already visited Australia, Asia and America — will open at the Theatre of Light in Dublin’s Point Village on Monday, March 10.
An A to Z of wonderful brick creations, the exhibition includes all of the works from Ryan’s The Bricktionary: Ultimate A-Z of LEGO book — as well as some of the most incredible brick models ever made.
An interactive, fun-filled journey of creation for families, children, and adults alike, the exhibit also includes hands-on challenges and build zones which will see guests learn how to turn dreams into LEGO Brick reality.
Ryan told how, with the exhibit, he hoped to show“everything that’s awesome in the book”— and also“give people practical examples for them to play with and build things.”
He said,“i’ve written a few children’s books. And this exhibit, it’s a children’s book that I wrote called Bricktionary, which is basically like the dictionary, but for LEGO.
“And so, it’s the A to Z of everything
LEGO — ideas, techniques, tricks, all sorts of basically everything about LEGO.
“It’s quite a thick book, quite like a dictionary.
“And as you can imagine for that book, I made a lot of LEGO models. I built big things, small things, things that showed techniques — all sorts of crazy stuff.
“And basically, I wanted to make an exhibition of the contents of that book.
“And not only to show everything that’s awesome in the book, but also to give people practical examples for them to play with and build things.
“Like, for example, ‘e’ is for earthquake. So we’ve got these tables that have simulated earthquakes on that, so kids and adults can build stuff and then they can simulate an earthquake to see what happens to their LEGO creations.
“There’s all sorts of stuff like that in the exhibition, as well.”
Ryan told how one of his favourite parts of the journey so far has been inspiring others — and showing others that they can“build whatever is in their imagination”.
He said,“i’ve been doing it for quite a long time. It’s been 15 or 16 years now, where I’ve been doing it as my job — and I’ve gotten to build lots of crazy and amazing things.
“But I guess probably the coolest thing is, you know, the inspiring that I get to do; that I get to show people that they can build whatever is in their imagination. And whatever their passions are.
“And making LEGO Masters Australia, that’s been a real highlight — it’s a lot of fun.”
And as for his favourite creation that he’s gotten to build, Ryan told how there’s one thing in particular from Bricktionary: The Interactive Exhibition that would be“right up there”as a favourite.
He said,“thinking about what’s in Bricktionary, there’s a life-sized tree in there.
“Making something as nature-based as that — and what happens in the exhibition is that we teach people how to make animals, and basically they add their animals to live around the tree.
“So, getting to build something like that — which is enormous, and is as big as a real tree — is really challenging and lots of fun.
“Something like that would probably be right up there [as a favourite].”
The LEGO Masters Australia judge added that he wanted to“make something that people can get involved in”while going through the exhibit.
Ryan also shared one of the challenges throughout the journey so far.
He explained,“we have a few exhibitions which are traveling around the world, and one of them is Jurassic World.
“And so making life-sized dinosaurs out of LEGO — like a life-sized T-rex, that thing weighs tonnes and tonnes — when you’re making giant things like that, that’s always challenging from a technical perspective.”
Ryan told how the latest exhibition itself“took over 6,000 hours to build”— and the team will be heading to Ireland a few days before opening to make sure it is set up and“all perfect”.
He said,“there’s a lot of effort and labour and stuff that’s gone into it. And so whenever the exhibition moves — and it started in Australia, and then it was in China, and then in the US — it takes a while to set up.
“It takes us a week, or thereabouts, to set it up.
“A few of us head over, and we like to set it up and make sure that it’s all perfect. So, I’ll be there for a few days.”
And the LEGO Certified Professional added that there’s a few things he’s“looking forward”to doing when he is in Ireland.
He continued,“well, with a name like Ryan Mcnaught — I’ve got a lot of long-lost relatives over there. I’ll have to visit about 50 relatives, which is fun. I’m looking forward to that.
“And I mean, I love Ireland a lot. I haven’t been for a few years — not since Covid, actually — and I’ve missed it a little bit. I’ll be catching up with friends and family, and just having a good time.”
Ryan also shared what he hopes attendees take away from Bricktionary: The Interactive Exhibition.
He said,“probably a couple of things. I hope they learn something.
“Every exhibition or book that I’ve written or we’ve made over the years, it has undertones of education — and I call it education by stealth.
“There’s a lot of things that hopefully people will learn, both from a LEGO perspective and other things.
“Hopefully, people will pick that up a bit, as well as having lots of fun and building super cool stuff, too.”
Having built so many incredible creations throughout his career so far, Ryan told how there’s one particular thing he hasn’t gotten to build yet but would like to try his hand at one day.
He said,“i’ve made some life-sized cars out of LEGO — even like, Formula One cars and things like that.
“And they were a lot of fun to build.
“But maybe one day when I retire... I’m never going to be able to afford a yacht, so maybe I have to build my own one.
“I don’t know if it’s going to float or not, but I’ll give it a go.”
I got my first Lego set from my gran when I was three.”