Pinpoint art in the eye of a needle

Last year, sculptor Willard Wigan crafted by hand a gold motorbike in a hollow strand of hair, the details of which are virtually invisible to the naked eye.

The Briton was awarded the Guinness World Record for the world's smallest sculpture, measuring only 2 microns.

The 56-year-old micro sculptor, who is in Singapore to give a private talk to Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group clients, has built a career out of producing works that sit in the eye of a needle and can be viewed only under a microscope.

Such delicate artistry does not come cheap. Prices for his work start at around £50,000 (S$105,500) and his collectors include the likes of Prince Charles, television and music mogul Simon Cowell and singer Elton John.

For the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, he was commissioned to craft a Coronation Crown, which sits atop a pinhead and is adorned with minute diamonds and emeralds.

The fame achieved by Wigan, who has exhibited around the world in cities such as Shanghai, Hamburg and Sydney, belies a troubled past.

The Birmingham native, who is dyslexic, tells Life! he had a rough childhood. He was humiliated by his teacher at school for being slow and paraded around as an example of failure.

He recalls matter of factly: "When that happened, it became a nightmare for me at school. It became very miserable and the only thing I wanted to do was run away from school."

It was the bullying, however, that led him to discover his special talent for art.

At age five, after escaping school and hiding in the back garden of his house, Wigan sought refuge in what turned out to be his first attempts at tiny sculptures. He started building houses for ants he thought were homeless, using his father's razor blade, splinters of wood and some dried leaves.

He received praise from his mother Zetta and a neighbour, which encouraged him to take his craft further and make the works even smaller. Completely self-taught as a sculptor, he believes he was born with this talent.

He credits his mother, who worked in a factory before she died in 1995, for being his biggest supporter and critic. "I could never please her," he says with a smile. "She would say 'it's too big, it's too big, it's too big' all the time.

"So as my life went on, I decided to go smaller, because she said I will get bigger by getting smaller. She said the small things made big things happen."

His art became a way for him to regain self- confidence and prove himself to others. "My work is a message. It depicts me from the beginning when I was told that I was nothing. So I wanted to show the world that the small things are very important.

"It's to show the world that the word 'nothing' does not exist because there is always something."

His notable works include The Incredible Hulk, which features the miniature Marvel comic superhero breaking through the eye of a needle; The Mad Hatter's Tea Party, inspired by a scene from Alice In Wonderland; and The Last Supper, with individual sculptures of Jesus and the 12 disciples. They measure around 20 microns each.

The process of crafting each piece is so delicate that he has to work between each heartbeat. This prevents his pulse from causing even the slightest movement in his hand, which could make a difference when creating microscopic works of art.

One of his challenges is that he has to be careful not to inhale his pieces. While working on The Mad Hatter's Tea Party, he inhaled the Alice character because he was distracted by his mobile phone.

Of his art, he says: "It takes a lot of dedication, a lot of sacrifice. I had to become a recluse. I don't hang out with a lot of people because I wanted to concentrate while doing this."

He works using a microscope and his tools are handmade to suit the dimensions of his pieces. They are made from smashed diamond shards, acupuncture needles and a hair from a fly, which is used to paint his work. Each artwork takes four to eight weeks to complete, depending on its intricacy.

What gives Wigan the most satisfaction is when the work is on display for public viewing. "When the public sees the work, that gives me pleasure."

The bachelor hopes to challenge himself one day by putting 21 camels in the eye of a needle. That would be an increase from his previous piece, Nine Camels, where he sculpted nine camels in the eye of the needle.

His gift is his resounding reply to his childhood detractors. "When I discovered this gift, I knew that this would be a weapon - a weapon of success."

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