Style Imitating Art | The Last Supper by Willard Wigan

A little whimsical mind-blowing fun for this round!

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, and Marsha of Marsha in the Middle. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as presenter, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the presenter by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the presenter will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join either! In fact, you don’t even have to join but you can still use the art to inspire an outfit just for the sake of trying something different. If you want to share your inspired outfit, we invite you do so on Instagram or any other social media platform that you prefer. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Shelbee, or Marsha or use #TeamLOTSStyle and #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!

This Week’s Presenter

Salazar had April Fools’ Day in mind when she chose this artwork. She says, “I thought it would be fun to pick an artwork with a playful, tongue-in-cheek tone, so I decided on the micro-sculptures of British artist Willard Wigan – they’re so tiny they can fit in the eye of a needle or on the head of a pin! I’m especially partial to his fairytale/Disney ones, like this Alice in Wonderland (again!) or Snow White one, but I’m not limiting this SIA to a single sculpture. Rather, I’m using his entire catalogue of work as inspiration. They may be difficult to interpret as outfits, but that’s the fun of it!”

While Salazar had April Fools’ Day in mind when choosing Wigan’s collection of micro mini sculptures, I had Easter in mind when I chose The Last Supper as my specific inspiration for this challenge. I am very drawn to the bright colors of the robes and the timing is perfect since Passover begins this weekend.

The Artwork

The Last Supper by Willard Wigan

About the Artist: Willard Wigan

Willard Wigan is a British sculptor born in June 1957 to Jamaican parents. Challenged by undiagnosed dyslexia and Asperger syndrome as a child, Wigan drew ridicule from his primary school instructors as he struggled with learning to read. At the very young age of 5, he turned to sculpting as a way to escape the disparagement of his teachers and classmates. His aim was to illustrate that “nothing did not exist”, speculating that if people were not able to view his work with the naked eye then they would not be in a position to criticize it. Sculpting for almost his entire life, Willard Wigan continues to strive for making even smaller works.

In 2013, he created a 24-carat gold motorbike sculpture which he imbedded into a human hair. The minuscule statue was recognized as the smallest hand-made sculpture in the world by Guinness World Records. On September 5, 2017, Wigan broke his previous Guinness World Record with a sculpture of a human fetus measuring 0.078 by 0.053 millimeters.

Willard Wigan was awarded The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2017 for his contribution to the arts. In January 2018, he was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the University of Warwick for significant contributions to art and sculpture.

The way in which he creates these microscopic masterpieces is absolutely mind boggling to me. I cannot explain any of it so I will direct to the list of articles below. I highly recommend reading a little bit of it because it is truly fascinating stuff.

About the Art: The Last Supper

Willard Wigan’s depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper was first exhibited in 2004 at The Artlounge gallery in Birmingham. Wigan included detailed figures of Jesus and all twelve of his apostles adorned in colorful robes sitting at a table. When viewed through a special enlarging display, one can see the detailed facial expressions of the apostles exactly as depicted in the original Da Vinci painting from 1490. Also visible are the tablecloth and the table settings in perfect miniature proportion.

Da Vanci’s original work measures 180 inches x 360 inches and Wigan managed to replicate it in miniature so tiny that the entire detailed scene fits inside the eye of a needle. He used Kevlar, gold, and cable tie to complete this mini sculpture over four months. At less than a hundredth of an inch tall, the figures are no larger than a human eyelash or a human hair. Wigan chose The Last Supper for this piece to bring a focus on Easter to an exhibition in his hometown.

Resources/References:

• Willard Wigan Art
• These sculptures are so small they’re only visible with a microscope
• Willard Wigan Creates The World’s Tiniest Sculptures Inside The Eye Of A Needle, And Inside Greubel Forsey Watches
• Willard Wigan, Artist & Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
• Willard Wigan: Challenge of autism drove artist to succeed
• Experience: I make the smallest sculptures in the world
• You’ll Need a Microscope to See These Miniature Masterpieces
• Micro sculptor Willard Wigan eyes up Last Supper for his latest work
• Wikipedia: Willard Wigan

About My Outfit

Oh my gosh, how I struggled with this one! Honestly, after multiple failed attempts, I should have chosen a different micro sculpture as my inspiration. But my heart was set on The Last Supper and I am a very determined woman when it comes to challenging myself.

Once my heart was set, my mind quickly became set on styling a kaftan-turned-robe in royal blue and orange to mimic the colors of the robes worn by Jesus and his apostles in the sculpture. I haven’t shared that robe in photos yet, but it is the same robe as this burgundy one except it features an orange and white geometric pattern on a royal blue background. My first inclination was to wear the blue and orange robe atop this bright green cotton dress. However, this combination made me look like I ate the entirety of the Last Supper by myself. I couldn’t get the garments off my body quick enough! Failed attempt number 1.

Next I tried the robe over a pair of dark blue leggings and a bright orange tunic with vibrant yellow tassels. The leggings and tunic were super cute together but the robe ruined it. Failed attempt number 2.

Blaming the tunic for my second failed attempt, I kept the leggings and switched to a blue and white tie dyed tunic with bright pink tassels. Again, super cute without the robe. Not terrible with the robe but still making me feel like I didn’t want to leave the house wearing it. Failed attempt number 3.

Then I tried the bright orange tunic over the green dress. This was the worst idea yet! Failed attempt number 4.

Finally I ditched the robe, the dress, and both tunics and went back to the beginning. I began to contemplate switching my choice of sculpture at this point, but determined I was, darn it.

I really wanted to style something brightly colored and robe-like to capture the essence of the artwork so I went digging through my expansive collection of robe-like garments and found this beautiful silk Kantha Bae dress that was gifted to me in Daenel‘s big box of beautiful hand-me-downs. The colors really are quite perfect to represent the colors used in Wigan’s depiction of The Last Supper. While paisley print does not have any connection to Judaism or Christianity, paisleys do have religious origins so the print on the dress pleased me as an extra added detail connecting it to the artwork.

This dress is not quite a dress, however. As you can see, the front is split leaving it open from the waist down so I guess it’s more like a topper of sorts, requiring creative layering to make it work. I also had to consider our still near-freezing temperatures as I added more pieces of clothing. The silk is very lightweight and I know it is going to be wonderful to wear when the temperatures reach bearable. For this cold weather look, I stuck with my old faithful leggings and a tee shirt combination. My light blue leggings are an exact match to the blue on my topper and my rusty colored long sleeve tee shirt is a near exact match to the pink color on the topper.

If the weather were warmer, I would have definitely worn a pair of my rope sandals. But it is not, so I went with my tan floral embroidered cowgirl boots. The embroidery is a little nod to the needle which is holding the tiny sculpture. I added my tan hat with a brown woven belt as my hat band simply because it coordinated with the outfit. For my jewelry, I chose a really old set of matching earrings and necklace. The elongated shape of the metal pieces adorning the jewelry are similar in shape and size to sewing needles. This is my larger nod to the needle which is a very important component contributing to the magnitude of what this artist does. And then I tied it all together with a leather bow around my neck.

The wind was not working in my favor for photographs but I felt good wearing this outfit for a day of shopping with my mother-in-law. I did ditch the hat so I wouldn’t lose it to the wind and I added a coat because that wind was too dang cold. And off we went on a thrifting adventure.

If you enjoyed my sartorial interpretation of Willard Wigan’s Last Supper micro sculpture, be sure to check out which sculptures Salazar and Marsha chose and how they intrepreted them into outfits. If you would like to participate in this challenge and have your photo included in Salazar’s round up post on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, be sure to email your photos to her at 14shadesofgreyblog@gmail.com by Tuesday, April 8, 2025, by 10:00 p.m. EST. I am excited to see what you all wear.

Happy styling! 

Keeping it on the edge, 

Shelbee

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