As a young boy growing up in a broken home, Adam Umbach frequently turned to building Lego structures for comfort and a form of stability. As a child of divorce, he also clung to drawing favorite characters as a form of control in an ever-changing environment. As an adult, painting requires the same focus and precision that these tasks took during childhood. You can find this anchored within his works.
In recent paintings, Umbach features Lego-inspired pieces to evoke a nostalgia for his childhood. Rooted in memories of the artist’s early years, Father & Child offers an addition to the long history of the Madonna and child sculpture by Michelangelo, while also referencing Umbach’s own childhood when his father was the primary caregiver. The threatening rain clouds release droplets, though both real mallards and Lego-inspired ducks would be impervious to the rain. When Umbach lost his father at seventeen, adapting to adversity was a necessary skill, much like “water off a duck’s back.” At times, looking at this painting, he now also sees his wiser self-leading a more anxious self out of the rain.
Another project, Barbie World, connects to a feeling of nostalgia for childhood. The Lego-inspired T-Rex is of particular interest because, depending on the perspective, the dinosaur could be smiling with joy or clenching its teeth in anxiety. The contrast between the enduring quality of plastic and the extinction of the dinosaur is significant. Created during the summer when the movie Barbie was a cultural phenomenon, the painting reflects a “boy” toy happily existing in a feminine world and celebrates the power of the female lens in culture.
More whimsical, playful titles such as Whaley and Racey Daze further explore the connection to early memories and a sense of child-like freedom.
Umbach was born in Chicago and is currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. He is known for experimenting with abstraction, geometric painting, and expressionism within his work.
