Masterpieces under microscope

The works of sculptor Willard Wigan (Great Britain) are so tiny that you will need a microscope to see them. You won’t see Wigan’s mi­nia­tu­re sculp­tu­res without ad­di­tional vision aids. But the first look at them reveals the wonder­ful world of the artist. Wigan from Birmingham uses tiny handmade tools in his work, reportedly by Associated Press. The sculptor has to hold his breath while working and touch the material only between the beats of his heart, other­wise he may spoil everything. Wigan was diagnosed with dyslexia, but this disease does not apply to numbers, so the sculptor eagerly carves numbers on rice corns, grain of sand, and sugar granules. It takes him sometimes several months to create one such sculp­tu­re.

These days there are not many people able to shoe a flea. Besides the hero of the famous novelette by Nikolai Leskov’s The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea, those include the well-known master of microscopic sculptures Mykola Siadrysty. Siadrysty’s works include a rose with only 0.05-millimeter dia­meter, which is placed in an inside and outside polished hair of a man, and a chess board where the Alekhine – Capablanca game is depicted with miniature golden figurines. The model of frigate Red Sails, which is 3.4 millimeters long and consists of as much as 337 details, is another incredible item. The rigging of this little ship is 400 times thinner than a man’s hair. The master creates his works with his own hands, using special technology for each of them. Almost all the works by Siadrysty are stored in Kyiv, in the Museum of Micro Miniatures located on the territory of Kyiv Cave Monastery. The most popular items include the portrait of Yuri Gagarin carved from a sloe seed, the world’s tiniest working electric engine, shoed flea, a caravan of camels in a needle’s eye, the tiniest inscription made by man – a signature on a cut of a hair, and balalaika in a pop seed.