Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Smaller than small



You'll never believe how small this Betty Boop is. She's standing inside the eye of an ordinary sewing needle!



The Simpsons are fighting on the head of a pin.

Willard Wigan is microsculptor who began his career as a 5-year-old child. Don't miss the video in which he tells the story of making houses for ants. Not life-size ant farms, mind you, but (really) tiny houses, amusement parks, and gardens that were ant-size.

http://www.ted.com/talks/willard_wigan_hold_your_breath_for_micro_sculpture.html


How does Wigan manage these miniatures, which are visible, and crafted, only through a microscope?

He enters a trance-like state, slowing his heartbeat, and works between beats (one and a half seconds). His ability to do this has baffled experts in medical fields. He paints using a "brush" that is actually a hair from a fly's head or one from his own face. In one piece he used part of a spider's web to make the reins for a horse and carriage.
After hearing Wigan lecture and seeing images of his work, it's hard to call my latest pieces "miniature."

[Pardon the weird spacing below; after many tries, this is the best layout I can get!]

THE LUNAR LANDING


THE MATCH



When I see work like this, it's hard to go back to my crafts table. Shall I try to take inspiration from it, or throw up my hands, as in: Why bother?
The jury is still out.

7 comments:

Ellen said...

The Museum of Jurassic Technology in LA is as strange as strange could be - but one of the strangenesses last time I was there (about twelve years ago) was rice sculpture, figures carved from rice grains. Well worth a visit.

Terri Thayer said...

Wow. Cannot imagine. Speechless.

Blogger seems to have changed its photo layout thingy. I had trouble too. By hitting Edit html, the old code came up instead of the picture. That I could move around.

Betty Hechtman said...

That's what I call a miniature of a miniature. Personally, I like size you work in Camille. You can enjoy your scenes without a magnifying glass.

Camille Minichino said...

Thanks, Betty. That helps!

Anonymous said...

NEVER throw in the towel....what would we do without YOUR uniqueness? xoxoxo

Julie said...

Camille, I agree with Betty. Your work can be enjoyed without the need for one to schlep around a microscope. Have you seen the September/October issue of Piecework magazine? The theme is miniatures.

Camille Minichino said...

Thanks, Julie. Someone kindly forwarded me that issue of Piecework -- there's an interesting contest or two that I'm tracking!