At home, when the heating pipes made noises, I imagined a tiny person was in there skipping with a rope. The fantasy world of tiny things became my escape. – Willard Wigan
At school I’d want to be so small that nobody could see me, and so my work depicts and reflects me – what it felt like to grow up in a world of pain. – Willard Wigan
I’m just honoring my mother’s words. She always told me, ‘The smaller your work, the bigger your name will become.’ – Willard Wigan
When I first heard that Barack Obama was going to be the first black president, I wanted to do the smallest, biggest tribute in history. – Willard Wigan
My teacher said my brain was the size of a pea. He made my life miserable by singling me out in the classroom as a failure. – Willard Wigan
I always say that failure was my friend. I learned nothing at school, so I just lived in my own world. – Willard Wigan
When I was a kid, I had trouble at school because of my learning disabilities. Carving is my body compensating for the lack of other skills. – Willard Wigan
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. – Willard Wigan
I heard someone say that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven. I decided to sculpt camels in a needle. – Willard Wigan
As a kid, I lived in a fantasy world. I used to believe ants could talk. Not once did they say thank you. – Willard Wigan
When you work at a microscopic level, you have to control every part of your body movement – your fingertips, your joints, the pulse in your fingers. – Willard Wigan
Those that don’t believe how small my work is should just come along and see it for themselves. – Willard Wigan
People find it very, very difficult to believe what I’ve done. Scientists have seen my work and they can’t explain it. Even nano-scientists have seen it and been totally shocked. But if any man on Earth wants to challenge me, I’m ready. Bring it on. – Willard Wigan
I became obsessed with making more and more tiny things. I think I was trying to find a way of compensating for my embarrassment at having learning difficulties: people had made me feel small so I wanted to show them how significant ‘small’ could be. – Willard Wigan
