Mykola Syadristy (b. 1937)

• 1937: Born in Kolisnykivka, Kharkiv region.
• Education: Kharkiv Art School, then the Kharkiv Agricultural Institute.
• As an engineer: He worked in Transcarpathia and later at institutes of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences before devoting his life entirely to art.
• Sport: Master of Sports of the USSR and absolute champion of Ukraine in underwater sports.
• Books: “Is It Difficult to Shoe a Flea?” and “Secrets of Microtechnique”. The latter has been republished several times and in 1970 won first prize in a national competition for the best popular-science book.
• Honour: People's Artist of Ukraine.

His works have been exhibited on every continent. He has permanent exhibitions in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (Monastery of the Caves) and in Andorra, and his works are also held by the Polytechnic Museum in Moscow. The MikroCsodák Museum in Szentendre is the only permanent microminiature collection in Central Europe.

“People often ask what it takes to create such tiny masterpieces. My answer: knowledge and experience in design and composition. You must know the properties of materials perfectly and be able to control your body so that the finest movements are made between heartbeats.”

Syadristy has no permanent set of tools. For every work he devises a technology of his own and makes new tools, and sometimes a tool takes longer to make than the work itself.