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- Posted By : Marcel Wah
- Posted On : Dec 01, 2009
- Views : 270
- Category : Written By Me
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Achieving Greatness Through The World's Smallest And Most Wondrous Works Of Art
Willard Wigan is an artist of magical and miraculous talent. He creates art in a world in which only he lives in. No other artists on this planet can compete with his artistic achievement of making the world's smallest sculptures. Art that is so small that it is about the size of a red blood cell and which sits in the eye of a needle or on top of a pin.
To imagine how small a red blood cell is, play the animation at this Web site and you will soon say to yourself, "That cannot be. This is impossible." However, this is all very real. Wigan is a unique artist with a God-given talent and special gift that helped him overcome great challenges in his early childhood years.
Willard Wigan was born in 1957 in Birmingham, England. His parents migrated to England from Jamaica where they raised seven children, including Willard. We found it interesting that no news reporting on Wigan mentioned his Jamaican heritage, which after hearing his story possibly played a large role in the person he has become--a man with internal youth, kindness, manners, confidence, and a sense of humor and playfulness that is very Caribbean. These traits were driven into him by his mother, who provided Wigan with a strong conviction of self-worth and motivation to excel beyond the limits placed by either him or others. Wigan explained that "the world hasn't seen anything yet." What he means is that his work will get even smaller.
Willard Wigan's obsession to create miniature works of art dates back to his childhood when he was just five years old. Wigan was, and to this day is, battling with dyslexia, a learning disorder that makes it difficult for him to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols. Although this disorder does not affect general intelligence, Wigan's teachers ridiculed and tormented him so much so that he ended his school education at the age of 15. He was made to believe that he was an utter failure, placed even on exhibit to other students as an example of failure. A teacher would say and point: "This is what a failure is. This is what it means to fail." However, when you speak with Willard, the man, you hear only the words of an extremely bright individual who is well-rounded, passionate about his work, who possesses an acute sense of judgment and who understands the importance of perseverance to achieve your goals.
So at five years old, "I started making houses for ants because I thought they needed somewhere to live. Then I made them shoes and hats. 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," says Wigan. From that time, Wigan's mother would push him to make his art smaller and smaller. She would tell him that it wasn't enough to be good or great, that he had to be more than exceptional.
To create the world's smallest art, it takes an enormous amount of discipline, personal sacrifice, and an extremely controlled environment to work in. Dust, breeze, or the slightest distraction or vibration can destroy the work. To limit accidents from external and internal forces from damaging his creations, Wigan works between the pulses of his heartbeat as he adds color or sculpts his pieces. He has trained himself to slow his breathing and to control his hands to the point that they are more still than a surgeon's hands. To Wigan, frustration is part of the art making process. He states: "It is part of the journey. Frustration is a step to success." By overcoming frustration, Wigan explained that he becomes a better person and a better artist. He continued: "My work sends a message to people, that patience is a virtue."
Wigan is an artist who does not need to make any statements about his color or his heritage. His art is his statement. "The obvious thing is that I am an artist. I do not need to mention my color. I just mention my skill," says Wigan. "I have to be different, because I have to take away that stereotypical role of black artist." Wigan does not use his color as an excuse to fail. He uses the legacies of great figures such as Sidney Poitier, Martin Luther King, Mohammed Ali and others to guide and to thrust his inspiration. "I saw greatness coming from them and I was inspired to become great," Wigan says.
That inspiration again came from Wigan's mother who continually drilled into him that "the smaller your art, the bigger your name would become." There is no doubt that Willard Wigan is making history. His works are collected internationally, and he is probably one of the most successful Caribbean artists alive today.
For more information about Willard Wigan, you can visit his Web site at www.willard-wigan.com.
More on Willard Wigan in the print issue of CAW Magazine in June 2010. Subscribe now to receive your copy.
Overview
Achieving Greatness Through The World's Smallest And Most Wondrous Works Of Art
Willard Wigan is an artist of magical and miraculous talent. He creates art in a world in which only he lives in. No other artists on this planet can compete with his artistic achievement of making the world's smallest sculptures. Art that is so small that it is about the size of a red blood cell and which sits in the eye of a needle or on top of a pin.
To imagine how small a red blood cell is, play the animation at this Web site and you will soon say to yourself, "That cannot be. This is impossible." However, this is all very real. Wigan is a unique artist with a God-given talent and special gift that helped him overcome great challenges in his early childhood years.
Willard Wigan was born in 1957 in Birmingham, England. His parents migrated to England from Jamaica where they raised seven children, including Willard. We found it interesting that no news reporting on Wigan mentioned his Jamaican heritage, which after hearing his story possibly played a large role in the person he has become--a man with internal youth, kindness, manners, confidence, and a sense of humor and playfulness that is very Caribbean. These traits were driven into him by his mother, who provided Wigan with a strong conviction of self-worth and motivation to excel beyond the limits placed by either him or others. Wigan explained that "the world hasn't seen anything yet." What he means is that his work will get even smaller.
Willard Wigan's obsession to create miniature works of art dates back to his childhood when he was just five years old. Wigan was, and to this day is, battling with dyslexia, a learning disorder that makes it difficult for him to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols. Although this disorder does not affect general intelligence, Wigan's teachers ridiculed and tormented him so much so that he ended his school education at the age of 15. He was made to believe that he was an utter failure, placed even on exhibit to other students as an example of failure. A teacher would say and point: "This is what a failure is. This is what it means to fail." However, when you speak with Willard, the man, you hear only the words of an extremely bright individual who is well-rounded, passionate about his work, who possesses an acute sense of judgment and who understands the importance of perseverance to achieve your goals.
So at five years old, "I started making houses for ants because I thought they needed somewhere to live. Then I made them shoes and hats. 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," says Wigan. From that time, Wigan's mother would push him to make his art smaller and smaller. She would tell him that it wasn't enough to be good or great, that he had to be more than exceptional.
To create the world's smallest art, it takes an enormous amount of discipline, personal sacrifice, and an extremely controlled environment to work in. Dust, breeze, or the slightest distraction or vibration can destroy the work. To limit accidents from external and internal forces from damaging his creations, Wigan works between the pulses of his heartbeat as he adds color or sculpts his pieces. He has trained himself to slow his breathing and to control his hands to the point that they are more still than a surgeon's hands. To Wigan, frustration is part of the art making process. He states: "It is part of the journey. Frustration is a step to success." By overcoming frustration, Wigan explained that he becomes a better person and a better artist. He continued: "My work sends a message to people, that patience is a virtue."
Wigan is an artist who does not need to make any statements about his color or his heritage. His art is his statement. "The obvious thing is that I am an artist. I do not need to mention my color. I just mention my skill," says Wigan. "I have to be different, because I have to take away that stereotypical role of black artist." Wigan does not use his color as an excuse to fail. He uses the legacies of great figures such as Sidney Poitier, Martin Luther King, Mohammed Ali and others to guide and to thrust his inspiration. "I saw greatness coming from them and I was inspired to become great," Wigan says.
That inspiration again came from Wigan's mother who continually drilled into him that "the smaller your art, the bigger your name would become." There is no doubt that Willard Wigan is making history. His works are collected internationally, and he is probably one of the most successful Caribbean artists alive today.
For more information about Willard Wigan, you can visit his Web site at www.willard-wigan.com.
More on Willard Wigan in the print issue of CAW Magazine in June 2010. Subscribe now to receive your copy.