Rosie Reloaded
Rosie The Riveter is one of the most popular cultural icons of the 20th century. Originally conceived by J. Howard Miller for Westinghouse in 1941, Rosie was soon adopted by the US government. She was made the poster girl for the working woman, a hardworking heroine sounding a call to women across the nation to join the workforce and thus contribute to America’s war effort. Among those who heard her call was a certain Norma Jean Dougherty, née Baker. Norma Jean was discovered as a model in 1945 while working in a airplane manufacturing plant, and then went on to write her own history as Marylin Monroe.
Rosie has shed her wartime mantle, and has been given new roles as she was appropriated by later pop culture artifacts. The piece shown here was to make her present on one more medium alongside coffee mugs and posters: in Lego®, which is but a few years younger than herself. The mosaic is 128 studs wide by 96 studs high, which translates into a handy 77 x 102cms (30.3″ x 42.5″).
Interested in a mosaic of your favorite image? Just send us the image via our contact form, and we’ll be in touch with you immediately to let you know our suggestions.
If you are planning to purchase or create a Lego® mosaic, keep in mind that some motives lend themselves better to the 8 millimter resolution than others.
A few tips for choosing a motive
- Degree of detail and artwork type: The more unicolored patches or color transitions there are in an image, and the softer its outlines, the better the result will be. Portraits, Impressionism and Expressionism tend to work better.
- Size: For logos or portraits, a size starting at 40 x 40cms (16″) can already be sufficient. When designed to be displayed in a private space, mosaics from still lifes or portraits should not be much smaller than large poster / architectural D size (91 x 61 cms, or 36″ x 24″). The Red Horses mosaic, for example, is 96 x 64 studs, which equals 77 x 51 cms,
or 30.3 x 20.1″). Mosaics to be displayed in public spaces and/or to large audiences should measure at least 2 meters on the longer axis. - Color: Portraits especially can look better as a black-and-white / grayscale version.
- Presentation: Keep in mind that mosaics have their best effect when viewed from an appropriate distance. Plan your space so that both passers-by and intentional viewers have a vista of at least two to three meters, and more for larger mosaics.
