Microscopic Pin Art The world's smallest and most wondrous works of art Willard Wigan
"Be original! Be creative! Be individual and make your mark!"
Willard was born in Birmingham, England, in Willard was born in Birmingham, England, in He has a learning disability (dyslexia), but has talented hands. He has a learning disability (dyslexia), but has talented hands. He makes sculptures out of dust particles, sugar crystals, grains of sand, rice, etc. He makes sculptures out of dust particles, sugar crystals, grains of sand, rice, etc. He works only around midnight and can only do some of the work between heartbeats. He works only around midnight and can only do some of the work between heartbeats.
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL The best things come in small packages - they really do - and artist Willard Wigan is the only person in the world who can put Snow White and her Seven Dwarfs or The Last Supper into the eye of a needle... The best things come in small packages - they really do - and artist Willard Wigan is the only person in the world who can put Snow White and her Seven Dwarfs or The Last Supper into the eye of a needle... Some of his works are many times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. Some of his works are many times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.
Many are even smaller still, with some being completely invisible to the naked eye; yet, when viewed through high power magnification, the effect on the viewer is truly mesmerizing. Many are even smaller still, with some being completely invisible to the naked eye; yet, when viewed through high power magnification, the effect on the viewer is truly mesmerizing.
His work is ground-breaking — partly because of the astounding beauty of vision which challenges the belief system of the mind and partly because it demonstrates that if one person can create the impossible, we all have the potential to transcend our own limiting beliefs about what we are capable of. His work is ground-breaking — partly because of the astounding beauty of vision which challenges the belief system of the mind and partly because it demonstrates that if one person can create the impossible, we all have the potential to transcend our own limiting beliefs about what we are capable of.
The smallest sculptures can only be measured in thousandths of an inch which is why they can sit, very delicately, on a human hair three thousandths of an inch thick. The smallest sculptures can only be measured in thousandths of an inch which is why they can sit, very delicately, on a human hair three thousandths of an inch thick. One work of art, a startled cat, eyes wide, back arched, clings to an eyelash taken from Wigan's ex-girlfriend ("I hope she never asks for it back," he says). One work of art, a startled cat, eyes wide, back arched, clings to an eyelash taken from Wigan's ex-girlfriend ("I hope she never asks for it back," he says).
When working on this scale he slows his heartbeat and his breathing dramatically through meditation. When working on this scale he slows his heartbeat and his breathing dramatically through meditation. He then sculpts or paints at the center point between heartbeats for total stillness of hand. He then sculpts or paints at the center point between heartbeats for total stillness of hand. He likens this process to "trying to pass a pin through a bubble without bursting it." He likens this process to "trying to pass a pin through a bubble without bursting it."
“Being a child I used to start making houses for ants because I thought they needed somewhere to live. I lived in a fantasy world and I thought they needed shoes and hats.”
The Statue of Liberty in the eye of a needle
Charles Dickens Adam and Eve
Elvis Presley on pin top
Cassius Clay vs Sonny Liston
Titanic on the tip of a pin
Girl with balloon on an eyelash
This image shows Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Thinker on a pinhead
Zeus
The cast of Peter Pan on a fish hook.
Six wives of Henry VIII
The Wizard of Oz
Homer Simpson
String Quartet
Clown
Horseman
Golfer
Gold Ship
Chinese Dragon
Marilyn Monroe
Santa Claus
Scales of Justice
World Cup
The Last Supper
Visitors view art through a microscope
“... one of the worst things that has ever happened to me," says Willard Wigan is when "I was sculpting the whole cast of Alice in Wonderland and I was really looking forward to finishing it because it was that good, it would probably have been my best piece so far. “... one of the worst things that has ever happened to me," says Willard Wigan is when "I was sculpting the whole cast of Alice in Wonderland and I was really looking forward to finishing it because it was that good, it would probably have been my best piece so far. "But just as I was about to put Alice in place alongside the other characters," he pauses to compose himself - sucking in his bottom lip to stop it trembling - "I inhaled her. I breathed in at the wrong moment, and she was gone. In my panic, I accidentally wiped out some of the other characters too." "But just as I was about to put Alice in place alongside the other characters," he pauses to compose himself - sucking in his bottom lip to stop it trembling - "I inhaled her. I breathed in at the wrong moment, and she was gone. In my panic, I accidentally wiped out some of the other characters too."
His latest work is a startlingly accurate reproduction of the Lloyd's building in London, perched on the tip of a needle. His latest work is a startlingly accurate reproduction of the Lloyd's building in London, perched on the tip of a needle.
Former England Davis Cup captain turned entrepreneur, David Lloyd, has purchased the remaining Willard Wigan collection of micro sculptured art, which has been insured by Lloyd’s of London for £11.2 million. Former England Davis Cup captain turned entrepreneur, David Lloyd, has purchased the remaining Willard Wigan collection of micro sculptured art, which has been insured by Lloyd’s of London for £11.2 million.