Willard Wigan
Willard Wigan
Willard Wigan, MBEis an English sculptor from Ashmore Park Estate, Wednesfield, England, who makes microscopic art. His sculptures are typically placed in the eye of a needle or on the head of a pin. A single sculpture can be as small as 0.005 mm...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionSculptor
body control movement pulse work
When you work at a microscopic level, you have to control every part of your body movement - your fingertips, your joints, the pulse in your fingers.
money
We didn't have money for toys, so I made my own.
bigger honoring name smaller work
I'm just honoring my mother's words. She always told me, 'The smaller your work, the bigger your name will become.'
failure lived
I always say that failure was my friend. I learned nothing at school, so I just lived in my own world.
along believe small work
Those that don't believe how small my work is should just come along and see it for themselves.
inside work
There are times when I've inhaled my work. There are artworks still inside of me.
camel camels decided easier heard man needle pass sculpt
I heard someone say that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven. I decided to sculpt camels in a needle.
teacher careers shoes
I started making houses for ants because I thought they needed somewhere to live. Then I made them shoes and hats. It was a fantasy world I escaped to where my dyslexia didn't hold me back and my teachers couldn't criticize me. That's how my career as a micro-sculptor began.
children
There is a child in all of us,
creatures
All creatures are great and small.
mean
Just because you can't see something, doesn't mean it's not there.
thinking people trying
I became obsessed with making more and more tiny things. I think I was trying to find a way of compensating for my embarrassment at having learning difficulties: people had made me feel small so I wanted to show them how significant 'small' could be.
home rope world
At home, when the heating pipes made noises, I imagined a tiny person was in there skipping with a rope. The fantasy world of tiny things became my escape.
school kids skills
When I was a kid, I had trouble at school because of my learning disabilities. Carving is my body compensating for the lack of other skills.