Willard Wigan

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Willard Wigan , MBE (* 1957 ) is an English sculptor from Birmingham , England who makes microscopic art . His sculptures are usually placed in the eye of a needle or on the head of a pin. The details of his sculptures can be as small as 0.005 mm. In July 2007, Willard Wigan was honored with an MBE by the Prince of Wales for services to the arts.

life and work

As a child with undiagnosed dyslexia , Willard Wigan was repeatedly ridiculed by teachers in his elementary school . Wigan describes his motivation for getting into sculpture, which began at the age of five, with his need to escape the ridicule of teachers and classmates. He wanted to show the world that there is nothing that does not exist. He argued that if people weren't able to see his work, they couldn't question it either. Wigan has since aimed to make even smaller works of art that can only be seen with a microscope.

The themes of Wigan's work range from popular culture to architecture. The sculptor often makes references to other artists and historical events in his work. His most famous pieces are a reproduction of Michelangelo's David , carved from a single grain of sand in a miniature version of the Lloyd building in London. Wigan recently created a miniature sculpture of Obama and his family and a statue of astronaut Buzz Aldrin in the eye of a needle in celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the 1969 moon landing . Other work includes a microscopic Betty Boop and a copy of the Soccer World Cup trophy, both approximately 0.005mm tall.

Willard's work collectors include Prince Charles, Sir Elton John, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, Lord Bath, former David Cup tennis captain, David Lloyd and music mogul Simon Cowell.

His work is described as phenomenal and as the eighth wonder of the world . A high point of his career was in July 2007 when he was awarded an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II .

Materials and Techniques

On average, it takes about eight weeks to complete a sculpture. Since the objects are microscopic, the sculptor has learned to control his breathing so that not even the smallest movement is caused. Wigan is in a meditative state at work in which his heartbeat is slowed down so his hands don't shake and he only works between heartbeats.

To manipulate his figures, Wigan uses surgical blades or handcrafted tools, some of which are made from sharpened microscopic slivers of tungsten . He uses a range of materials including nylon, grains of sand, dust, fiber, gold, and cobwebs , depending on the requirements of the object on which he is working. Wigan often uses housefly hair in his creations . His unknown early work included a life-size carved statue of Mike Tyson and the figurehead Jesus Christ and others that remain in private collections.

Exhibitions

In 2009, Wigan appeared as a guest speaker at the TED Conference in Oxford and later that year as a guest speaker on The Tonight Show in the United States. At the Tonight Show he made two of his sculptures in the eye of a needle with the help of a microscope - one depicts Buzz Aldrin in a spacesuit next to the USA flag and another five characters from Star Wars . Wigan explained that while working on a grain of sand, the tremor from its own heartbeat acts like a hammer drill chiseling the tiny particles. After a series of exhibitions in the UK in 2009 and 2010, he toured the US.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mark Strassmann: Willard Wigan's Micro Art. In: CBS Sunday Morning. CBS News, March 21, 2010, accessed March 20, 2011 .
  2. ^ Benjamin Secher: The tiny world of Willard Wigan, nano sculptor. In: The Telegraph . July 7, 2007, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  3. ^ A b Willard Wigan, Sculptor and Dyslexic. In: The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity. Yale University , 2008, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  4. ^ Willard Wigan: Hold your breath for micro-sculpture. In: TED Conferences. TED Ideas worth Spreading, July 2009, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Micro-sculptor Willard Wigan The Tonight Show on YouTube.
  6. ↑ USA tour dates. In: willard-wigan.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2010 ; Retrieved July 21, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Wigan, Willard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH 1957