An artist sculpted Independence Hall from a single toothpick to celebrate America’s 250th birthday
The rendering of Independence Hall is less than an inch tall and can fit on the end of the artist's pinky finger.
Steven J. Backman’s rendering of Independence Hall measures just nine-sixteenths of an inch long, three-eighths wide, and thirteen-sixteenths tall. It fits on the end of his pinky finger.
And, its sculpted out of an single white-birch toothpick.
Backman, a preeminent toothpick artist, spent several days creating a to-scale version of the Georgian hall on Chestnut Street where American democracy was formed as his homage to the country’s Semiquincentennial this July.
“I’m a very proud American, and I love America,” said Backman, 59, of San Francisco, who has never actually been to Philadelphia. “I love freedom and democracy — and this building actually stands for freedom and democracy."
Backman used a straight-edged razor blade to carve the building and its bell tower’s likeness from a Diamond toothpick, slicing off long, hair-like strands of the wood and gluing the pieces into place. He didn’t use loupes or magnification, only his naked eye and a lot of patience, he said.
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Backman has spent nearly 55 years perfecting toothpick modeling: He’s made miniatures of the Burj Khalifa and Eiffel Tower, spent 400 hours creating a blowfish for the American Museum of Natural History, and used 30,000 toothpicks to make a 13-foot replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is now housed in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in San Francisco, he said.
Backman’s 19.86-millimeter-tall Empire State Building earned him the Guinness World Records title for world’s smallest toothpick sculpture.
His work has been recognized by U.S. presidents and foreign dignitaries, he said. But Backman believes Independence Hall may be “the most important miniature [he’s] ever made.”
“I’m living in an American dream. ... I’m doing something I love,” he said. “I want to show my pride, and this is the best way I can show it — by making something that people will remember, that they can identify with, that they can appreciate."