A renowned micro-artist has recreated a trio of Vincent Van Gogh paintings inside a watch—each smaller than the gap of a second hand.
David A. Lindon depicted three of the late Dutch painter’s most famous works, but in a mind-bogglingly microscopic size, calling it the world’s first-ever wearable art gallery.
The fragility of the pieces means a mere sneeze or a cough could wreck months of intricate work in an instant.
He uses a microscope in between heartbeats to keep his hands sufficiently steady, and the process takes two months to complete each of the images representing Starry Night, Sunflowers, and Self Portrait.
Mr. Lindon was commissioned to create the Van Gogh Trilogy by Hammond Galleries, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the famed Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam this month.
Using specialized tools and techniques honed over years of practice, he crafts the artworks using strands of Kevlar, carpet fibers, pieces of ceramics, crushed micro pigments, precious metals like gold and platinum as well as gemstones, diamonds, emeralds and rubies.
Each of the Van Gogh paintings is painstakingly balanced atop the tourbillon of the watch, which constantly rotates the balance wheel to keep the device in rhythm.
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This is only the first in a series of miniature art gallery watches in the works. Upcoming Lindon creations will include Banksy, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and Pablo Picasso trilogies.
On the minutiae of his craft, Mr. Lindon credits his steady hand to a previous career in the Ministry of Defense working with complex equipment.
“It is a real challenge to control my hands and my breathing, let alone create something almost literally out of nothing. I keep my heart rate as low as possible as a single twitch from my fingers can wreck months of work.”
“I can accidentally blow it away, with a sneeze or a cough. There’s even a danger that static electricity can unexpectedly snap the art away as if by magic,” said the Bournemouth resident.
“Once a piece is lost, you can spend hours hunting around for it with a magnifying glass in your hand—and still never find it.
“Having been trained to work on small complex devices I had developed steady hands and a good deal of patience. I still think I’m mad to sit still for hours staring into a microscope day after day.
“What keeps me going through the long, tough hours is seeing my work finished and the look of wonder and astonishment on people’s faces, when they see my art in person for the first time.”
Hammond Galleries near Wolverhampton in the UK is featuring the wearable wristwatch as the centerpiece of its new exhibition Inspired By… Vincent.
Managing Director Edward Hammond is also offering the watch for purchase. Previous micro masterpieces by Lindon have sold for as much as $36,000 each.
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