針眼中的微雕：奧巴馬另類全家福
A British sculptor has brought US President Barack Obama down to size.
Talented Willard Wigan has carved Mr Obama and his family into the eye of a 24-carat gold needle.
Speaking in Los Angeles, as he was about to launch his first American exhibition, Willard revealed: 'My favourite piece has to be President Barack Obama and his family.
'I never thought I would see a black President in my life time, so this is historic and I wanted to celebrate that.'
The micro-sculptor's work is so small, you need a microscope to see it - it is invisible to the naked eye.
But Willard creates it all by hand in an astonishing process.
It takes him up to three months to create each amazing and unique sculpture, which usually sits within the eye of a needle or on a pin head.
The personal sacrifice involved in creating pieces is almost inconceivable. Willard enters a meditative state in which his heartbeat is slowed, allowing him to reduce hand tremors and sculpt between pulse beats.
Even the reverberation caused by traffic outside can affect Willard's work, so he often works through the night when there is minimal disruption.
In the past he has created micro-sculptures of such stars as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, P Diddy. Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and even The Simpsons.
But it is the President Obama sculpture he is most proud of, having spent more than three months creating it especially for his US tour.
'I think the Obama sculpture is my favourite of all time as it's the most significant piece that I have ever done.
Willard, who is from Birmingham, was subsequently honoured with receiving an MBE from HRH Prince Charles for his services to art.
His exhibition and tour of the US begins this week and runs in Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston through to November.
英國一位雕塑家最近創作了美國總統奧巴馬的迷你雕像。
天才微雕藝術家威拉德·維岡在一個24克拉的金針針眼裏雕出了奧巴馬一家。
威拉德正在洛杉磯即將舉辦他的首次美國展覽，他說：“我最心愛的作品當然是奧巴馬全家的雕像。”
“我從沒想過在我有生之年黑人能當總統，這很有歷史意義，我要慶祝一下。”
這位微雕藝術家的作品非常小，只有用顯微鏡才能看得到，用肉眼看不到。
但威拉德全憑雙手完成雕像，過程令人驚歎。
每個讓人歎爲觀止、別具一格的雕像都需要花費他三個月的時間，這種雕像通常放在針孔裏或者大頭針的針頭上。
創作過程中付出的心血令人難以想像。威拉德在創作時接近於冥想狀態，脈搏減慢，這使他可以減少手顫，並在心跳間隙進行雕刻。
甚至門外車輛的迴響都會影響到威拉德的創作，因此他經常在最清靜的深夜工作。
他還曾爲布拉德•皮特、安吉麗娜•朱莉、吹牛老爹、查理•卓別林、瑪麗蓮•夢露，甚至是辛普森一家創作過微雕。
但他最引以爲傲的還是奧巴馬的雕像，爲了美國之行，他花費了三個多月的時間進行創作。
“我覺得奧巴馬雕像是我的最愛，因爲它是我的作品中最有意義的一個。”
之後，由於在藝術領域的貢獻，來自伯明翰的威拉德被英國王儲查爾斯王子授予了英帝國勳章。
他的美國巡展將於本週開始，先後在洛杉磯、芝加哥、休斯敦等地舉辦，一直持續到11月。
Vocabulary:
micro-sculpture：微雕，是最爲精細微小的一種工藝品，其作品要用放大鏡或顯微鏡方能觀看到鏤刻的內容。英國伯明翰的 Willard Wigan 是一位國際知名的雕刻家，他是世界最小雕塑的創作者。他通過一把微型手術刀在米、沙和糖上雕刻，然後把它們放進針頭裏。
