Speakers Willard Wigan: Micro-sculptor
Willard Wigan sculpts figures small enough to fit on the head of a pin. To create these microscopic masterpieces, he works diligently through the stillest hours of the night, between his own heartbeats.
Why you should listen to him:
Willard Wigan has immortalized the Obama family in the eye of a needle and Muhammad Ali on the head of a match. In producing sculptures so incredibly small, he works under a microscope and employs ingenious tools, such as a fly's hair or an ex-girlfriend's eyelash for paintbrushes.
This passion for the diminutive stems from feelings of insignificance in Wigan's childhood. He was severely dyslexic but undiagnosed, and his teachers' harsh words drove him to hide in a nearby shed where he made shoes and hats for his friends, the ants. Today, his art has earned him national honors and critical acclaim, proving that some treasures can't be seen with the naked eye.
"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."Willard Wigan
Quotes by Willard Wigan
-
“I work between my heartbeat. I have one-and-a-half seconds to actually move. And at the same time I have to watch I don’t inhale my own work.”
— on creating micro-sculpture -
“It’s very painstaking work, but the best things come in small packages.”
— on creating micro-sculpture
-
-
Willard Wigan: Hold your breath for micro-sculpture
- 19:43 Posted: Aug 2009
Willard Wigan on the Web
Related Speakers
Conferences
-
- TEDGlobal 2009