Willard Wigan makes sculptures that are so small you need a microscope just to see them. His works include a ship on a grain of sand, the Statue of Liberty in the eye of a needle, a boxing match on a match head and an elephant on a pin-head. He uses slivers of diamond to carve grains of sand and has to work between the centre of each heartbeat to avoid hand tremors. Other hazards include dust and static electricity. There is a permanent exhibition of his work at The Mailbox in Birmingham.
we saw him and his exhibition in Birmingham about eighteen months ago. What a fantastic set of exhibits. He signed slivers of wood offcuts for Adam and Joe. He could not believe that ee wanted his autograph. Saddly now lost I think. Typical.
Willard made a film called ‘An Eye on X’, where he carved a minature sculpture of Malcolm X on the head of a toothpick, the film was directed by Pogus Caesar and the music was composed by Ranking Roger from the ska band The Beat…all three are Birmingham based, that’s a great combination of talent!! Have a look at the film http://www.oomgallery.net , it gives you a brief but sharp insight into the mind of this truly talented sculptor.