LOS ANGELES — She can solve it with her eyes closed, but not too long ago 11-year-old Sasha Aminpour, who has a thing for puzzles of all kinds, had not even heard of a Rubik's Cube. Invented in 1974 by Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik, the Rubik's Cube remains a popular toy to this day, which means Sasha was able to learn how to solve it online.

What You Need To Know

  • The Rubik’s Cube puzzle was invented in 1974 by Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik

  • Sasha Aminpour, 11, learned to solve the Rubik’s Cube by watching videos online and now can solve it with her eyes closed

  • Sasha creates images using hundreds of mini-Rubik’s Cubes for each piece

  • Sasha created a portrait of comedian Tehran Von Ghasri, the Iranian-American comedian who she presented it to as a gift

“For a week I was on YouTube trying to figure out how to do it, looking at a bunch of different videos,” Sasha said. “And, finally, after like messing it up a million times, I finally did it!”

Learning to navigate the complex color patterns was just the beginning, and Sasha soon saw the Rubik's Cube itself as a building block for making images. Her first piece was a small SpongeBob portrait, and then Sasha moved on to more complex pieces, like a large portrait of her mom and dad kissing, which she gave to her parents as a gift.

“They were really surprised,” Sasha said. “I hid it under a blanket for a week. That was the biggest [pieces] I've ever done.”

Sasha often sketches out her ideas first, and often uses a computer to pixelate them so she knows how to arrange her cubes. Then, she uses hundreds of the mini-sized Rubik's Cubes for each piece she creates. It takes a lot of time and energy to create each work, and Sasha's mom, Pauline Aminpour, is happy about that, especially in these times.

“I like that she's doing something productive with her time,” Aminpour said. “During this pandemic, when we couldn't go out, she's occupying her time creating this art. Regardless of what turns up with this, she's definitely picking up some skills for her future.”

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Sasha, whose family is of Iranian descent, also attracted the attention of Tehran Von Ghasri, the Iranian-American comic whose portrait she created and presented to him as a gift.

“He was really surprised,” Sasha said. “And then he posted it on a story and then a bunch of people saw it.”

Sasha said she doesn't know how long she'll continue making her cube art, but she's still got lots of ideas and her work, which she posts on Instagram, is starting to attract the attention of people looking to commission a Rubik's Cube piece of their own.