Parish Gallery
January 10, 2010 at 7:34 pmDC, artwork, georgetown
This afternoon we took the Georgetown Connection bus from Dupont Circle over to 31st and M Street to check out an exhibit at Parish Gallery that my sister had been raving about a few weeks ago. Titled “Art in the Eye of a Needle,” the exhibit features micro-sculptures by artistWillard Wigan, and, truth-be-told, you just have to see it to believe it.
There are about 15 different “viewing stations” throughout the gallery featuring sculptures, viewed only under a microscope, that include subjects from the Obama family, to the Simpsons, to Charlie Chaplin on an eyelash, to an anonymous couple enjoying a Valentine dinner–on the head of a sewing pin. Each tiny creation takes 8 weeks or longer for the artist to create using materials like nylon fibers, dust particles, housefly hairs, and cobwebs. According to Wikipedia, “the pulse of the artist’s finger could easily destroy the entire work, Wigan therefore has to control his nervous system to ensure he does not make even the tiniest movement… Wigan, when working, enters a meditative state in which his heartbeat is slowed, allowing him to reduce any hand tremors and work between heartbeats.”
Norman Parish, the gallery owner, shared a humorous anecdote with us as we were leaving. He said that the artist was once working on a sculpture of Alice in Wonderland, when he accidentally took a breath a little too close to Alice — and inhaled her. !!! Probably not very funny at the time, considering the labor that goes into these pieces, but I can’t come up with another type of artist that would face that same problem.
If you have a chance, go check it out, I guarantee you can’t look through each microscope with a straight face, especially when you see the houseflies! The exhibit is open until January 23rd. Parish Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday, from noon to 6 pm, and is located in Canal Square at 1054 31st Street NW.
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January 10th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Thanks for sharing. I’ll definitely have to check this out.
January 13th, 2010 at 11:16 am
wasn’t it awesome??? my favorite was charlie chaplin on the end of an eyelash — craaazy!!!
January 18th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
This sounds so awesome to see….just wish I was in DC to check it out!