Microsculptor creates world's smallest ever piece of art on a speck of stubble

A renowned microsculptor has crafted the world’s smallest ever piece of art inside a hollowed out strand of hair. Willard Wigan MBE created his tiniest work to date using a microscopic flake of gold from a chain and a speck of his own stubble. Steady-handed Willard brushed his face after a shave before working on the dot of hair which had become embedded in his finger print.



The 55-year-old then painstakingly hollowed out the stubble before shaping a detailed chopper motorbike inside it by working in between heartbeats. Using microscopic fragments of diamond which he adapted in to a tool, Willard spent 16 hours-a-day over a five week period producing the remarkable piece at his studio in Birmingham The chopper - which measures just 3 microns – is smaller than a human blood cell and only visible through a microscope.



It is so small that even the pulse in his finger could have crushed the sculpture altogether. Willard says his latest piece has surprised even himself. He said: “Creating the smallest sculptures in the world wasn’t enough for me I wanted to push myself to another level – and go even smaller. This is the tiniest thing I have ever done and by far the most complicated. The bike is made up of about 12 individual specs of gold.


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“I wanted to go beyond human expectations – but I wanted to personally challenge myself. I dabbed my finger on my chin after shaving and took the tiniest piece of stubble in between my fingerprint. It drove me mad to do – I burst a blood vessel in my eye staring so hard through the microscope. It has been one of my most challenging projects ever. I have surpassed what I even thought I was capable of. I see the hair as a little road – and I’ve always loved those orange county choppers. But not even a dust-mite could ride this bike.”