Sculpting in the Eye of a Needle

Posted by Queuebot in Art on August 20, 2009 at 11:46 pm

Every breed of art deserves at least a short moment in the limelight. Microsculpting, however, deserves quite a bit more. Taking up to six weeks on a single piece, microsculpter Willard Wigan creates miniature versions of pop culture icons that must be viewed from a microscope. Wired Magazine shares this incredible story:

“I’m like a mad professor, but without the spiky hair,” laughs Wigan, 52, who spends about six weeks on each piece. “I get down to 6, 7 microns, which is one-third the size of a period you’d see in a newspaper.”

“I cut the joints of this nylon fiber and moved the arm toward its head, but as I bend it, the arm keeps wanting to spring back,” he says, describing the delicate process. “I’m making little grooves, and as I’m cutting, the body starts to bend and twist and by then, perspiration starts dripping off my finger down the tool and toward the sculpture, like a little tidal wave of sweat coming down.”

Link

Previously on Neatorama: Posts about Willard Wigan

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by theturbolemming.

 
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