National Gallery of Australia Members got creative during COVID-19, recreating famous works of art at home for the global  #BetweenArtandQuarantine social media challenge, and Blue poles was one of the biggest inspirations from the national collection.  The Vincent family – high school teacher Karen and her sons Noah, 10, and Tobey, 7 – from Cooma, NSW, became an Instagram sensation when they recreated Blue poles in LEGO. Karen Vincent spoke with THE NATIONAL GALLERY.

National Gallery

How long have your family been members of the National Gallery?

Karen Vincent

I’ve been a member for most of my life. My father first bought me a membership when I was a teenager when he realised that I had a strong interest in the arts. The boys and I have had a family membership for the last couple of years, but I’ve been bringing them [to the Gallery] since they were babies.

National Gallery

What is your favourite work in the national collection?

Karen Vincent

I have a soft spot for early Australian art. John Glover is a favourite, any of the Heidelberg School artists, Margaret Preston and Thea Proctor. The boys love James Turrell’s Skyspace. And we all like spending time in the Sculpture Garden and having a hot chocolate in the café.

National Gallery

What made you take part in the #BetweenArtandQuarantine challenge?

Karen Vincent

We saw an article shared on social media of people in quarantine recreating artworks overseas. I instantly knew this was something we’d have fun doing. When the National Gallery promoted the #StayHomeChallenge about a week later we knew we had to create something special. We created our LEGO Blue poles especially for the National Gallery knowing it was the gallery’s most iconic work.

National Gallery

Why did you choose to recreate Blue poles with LEGO?

Karen Vincent

I’d seen a couple of other people overseas using LEGO as a medium for recreating abstract and contemporary works. The boys are both LEGO fanatics and we have A LOT of LEGO! I knew we’d have to utilise such an impressive collection somehow and it seemed like an inventive way to capture the chaotic and iconic paint splatters.

National Gallery

Talk us through the process: whose idea was it?

Karen Vincent

It was my idea to use LEGO. I knew the boys would love to recreate a work using LEGO. When I first had the idea I wasn’t sure if it would work. I said to my mum, who had been home-schooling the kids that day while I was at work: ‘We’re going home now to create a Blue poles out of LEGO. It might be a modern-day masterpiece or a spectacular failure – it really could go either way!’

National Gallery

Who in the family was involved?

Karen Vincent

The boys and I all made the work. Noah and I sorted through our LEGO collection and found the pieces that matched the colour scheme and Tobey made the poles.

National Gallery

How many pieces did you use, and how long did it take?

Karen Vincent

We filled a bucket with pieces before tipping them out. It took 45 minutes to find the pieces and build the poles, 20 seconds to tip it out onto the floor à la Jackson Pollock, 30 seconds for Tobey to arrange his poles on top and a few minutes to snap a couple of photos. Then the recreation was scooped back up and returned to our LEGO collection. In the end we were thrilled that it was obvious which artwork we had recreated.

National Gallery

What is your favourite memory of Blue poles?

Karen Vincent

I don’t have a favourite memory but I have many memories of Blue poles. I first remember seeing it as a very young child with my parents in the early 80s. Ever since it has always been the one must-see painting on every visit. The boys have stood in front of it since they were toddlers and last saw it in January 2020 when we were at the gallery to see Matisse & Picasso.

First published in Artonview, no 102, Winter 2020