MAN DETAILS HOW HE TURNS MORE THAN 600 RUBIK'S CUBES INTO PORTRAITS OF CELEBRITIES

PEOPLE

 

Man Details How He Turns More Than 600 Rubik's Cubes into Incredible Portraits of Celebrities (Exclusive)

By Staff Author  Published on February 13, 2026 12:11PM EST

 

When the world shut down in 2020, Dylan Sadiq found himself, like so many others, stuck at home with time on his hands. Instead of binge-watching shows or picking up a casual hobby, the lifelong engineer-in-training started building.

 

He experimented with 3D printers. He made solar-powered model cars. He tinkered simply for the sake of it. But eventually, Sadiq wanted to create something that felt entirely his own.

 

“I just wanted to do something more creative,” he tells PEOPLE exclusively over Zoom. “Something where I was the designer instead of following someone else’s instructions.”

 

That’s when he landed on an idea that would quietly change the trajectory of his life: a Rubik’s Cube mosaic.

 

Sadiq had been solving Rubik’s Cubes since he was 10 years old — they were always scattered around his house. At the same time, as an engineering student who had been programming since 16, he deeply understood how digital images work.

 

“Images on our phones and computer screens are just made up of pixels,” he explains. “Tiny colored squares. And my Rubik’s Cubes are basically physical colored squares.”

 

The connection clicked. If digital images are built from pixels, and a Rubik’s Cube is made up of colored squares, then — in theory — enough cubes could create a real-life, larger-than-life “pixelated” portrait.

 

So he did what any engineer would do: he built a program that could take any image, pixelate it and convert the colors into Rubik’s Cube-friendly shades. That allowed him to preview exactly what the finished artwork would look like before spending a dollar.

 

The concept gave him the confidence to take a leap. As a college student living at home with his mom and with few financial responsibilities, Sadiq spent nearly all the money he had on 600 cubes.

 

“They come individually wrapped,” he says with a laugh. “So you have to unwrap 600 cubes.”

 

For his first subject, he chose his favorite NBA player, Luka Dončić of the Dallas Mavericks.

 

Sports at the time felt heavy. Athletes were competing inside strict COVID-19 protocols, separated from their families, playing through uncertainty.

 

“It was kind of an emotional time,” Sadiq says. “I just wanted to give some love back to the game.”

 

Before assembling the piece, he built a massive wooden frame to hold the cubes upright — despite never having used a drill before. Then he sat down and solved each cube, one by one, carefully matching them to his digital blueprint.

 

More than 12 hours later, the portrait was complete. “I was like, ‘Sweet, this is pretty cool,’” he recalls. “But I didn’t really know what to do next.”

 

Luckily, he had filmed the entire process. He posted the video online and tagged the Mavericks, hoping — but not expecting — they might see it.

 

They did. The team liked it. Commented. Reposted it. Followed him. For a lifelong sports fan and brand-new artist, it was surreal.

 

Soon, other teams and players began reaching out. Over time, Sadiq’s designs improved, and what once took 12 painstaking hours now takes just two and a half.

 

“I think people see me more as an artist than an engineer,” he says. “And to be honest, I don’t have any art background. I didn’t study art. I don’t know how facial structures work — even though I make portraits.”

 

“It’s really just that I understand how my computer works,” he explains. “I built a program that does a great job, and I’ve learned how to improve it over time. I’m self-taught in what I need to know, but I’m super proud to be an engineer.”

 

After graduating in 2022, Sadiq turned the concept into a full-time career, bypassing traditional engineering roles to create what he calls “interactive art experiences.”

 

Across social platforms, he has amassed more than 150,000 Instagram followers and 178,000 on TikTok. He travels the country bringing Rubik’s Cube and Lego builds to stadiums and major events, partnering with teams and marketing departments to design custom portraits — often of star athletes — and inviting fans to help construct them in real time.

 

“I’m just here for the vibes,” he says. “I don’t want anything from anyone. I just want people to do something they’ve never done before.”

 

Some of his favorite pieces aren’t tied to sports. Growing up near New York Harbor, he’s recreated the Statue of Liberty multiple times — a design that resonates with crowds nationwide.

 

“It’s funny because I grew up so close to it,” he says. “But anywhere across the country, people are like, ‘Oh my God, we have to do the Statue of Liberty.’”

 

One of his most memorable moments came after he created a portrait of Indiana Pacers center Miles Turner, inspired by the NBA star’s love of Rubik’s Cubes and Legos. The Pacers shared the piece online. Turner saw it — and sent Sadiq a direct message.

 

“He was like, ‘That’s cool. Let me get one,’” Sadiq recalls.

 

Turner invited him to deliver it in person. At the player’s home, Sadiq unboxed the artwork alongside Turner, his family and friends.

 

“It was like Christmas morning,” he says. “He was so excited.”

 

They signed the portrait together and spent time talking basketball, Legos and life — a reminder, Sadiq says, that “they’re just normal people.”

 

Later, during the Pacers’ NBA Finals run, the team hired Sadiq to create another custom piece for Turner — this time a Lego portrait. The athlete now owns two of his works.

 

“I’m not really the artist,” he says. “I’m kind of the moderator. I’m just helping people create something together in a unique way.”