We’ve put together ten of this decade’s most exciting contemporary miniature artists whose intricate mixed media works are wowing audiences across south-east Asia and the middle east.
Contemporary Miniature Artists are redefining the art form by distilling memory, resistance, and innovation into intricate, powerful works that proves small is anything but insignificant.
In Southeast Asia and MENA, tradition, history, and sensibilities collide to craft entire worlds in miniature. Here are ten artists leading this powerful revival.
Egyptian sculptor Ebrahim Belal has become a global sensation in the miniature art scene by crafting impossibly detailed sculptures on the tips of pencil leads. His most celebrated piece—a rendition of The Last Supper featuring 13 lifelike figures carved within a single centimeter—holds the world record for the smallest depiction of the iconic scene.
Belal’s work not only showcases technical virtuosity but also spiritual and symbolic depth, using graphite as his unlikely medium. His achievements have positioned him as a pioneer in micro-sculpture, pushing the boundaries of what is humanly possible with precision tools and boundless patience.
In a record-breaking feat of both dedication and discipline, Mamta Sharma, an India-born artist now based in Oman, has etched her name into the World Book of Records UK by painting 3,249 miniatures on a single postcard-sized canvas. Her work is a testament to the convergence of endurance and intricacy. Rather than overwhelming, the collection is arresting—each piece radiating with character, colour, and craftsmanship.
Sharma’s mastery over scale and detail celebrates the spiritual patience embedded in traditional miniature art, reinterpreted in a modern-day context with global resonance.
Dr. Muhammad Karim Beebani, a Pakistani-Saudi national, preserves a more sacred and historical dimension of miniature art. He is the custodian of the world’s smallest printed Qur’an, a palm-sized marvel originally printed in Cairo in 1875. Though not an artist in the conventional sense, his role in conserving this relic has elevated him within the miniature art world.
The piece exemplifies the confluence of faith, literature, and fine craft—a reminder that miniatures can also be repositories of spiritual heritage. Beebani’s dedication ensures the survival and reverence of Islamic miniature manuscripts in a fast-moving world.
South African artist Lorraine Loots transformed a simple personal challenge into a global phenomenon with her project 365 Paintings for Ants. Each day, for an entire year, she painted a micro-artwork the size of a coin—rendering everyday objects, animals, and nostalgic scenes with staggering delicacy. What began as a passion project evolved into a collector’s dream, with patrons across the globe vying to own her tiny, hyper-detailed pieces.
Loots has become a cultural ambassador of miniature art, proving that intimacy and emotion can thrive in even the smallest of spaces.
Iranian artist Arash Groyan, currently based in Thailand, stands out for his bold reinterpretation of classical Persian miniature traditions. Merging fine brushwork with chaotic splashes made from Muay Thai glove strikes, Groyan fuses heritage and contemporary aggression in a startlingly beautiful visual language. His works, which depict elegant Persian figures against wild, expressionist backgrounds, reflect the duality of modern identity—rooted in the past yet constantly in flux.
His work is a metaphor for diaspora and dual belonging, and it pushes Persian miniature art into uncharted, globally relevant territory.
From Saudi Arabia, Raeda Ashour brings an ornamental elegance to miniature painting, rooted in Islamic aesthetics. Her artworks, often built with gold and silver inks and rendered in soft pastels, evoke the quiet beauty of traditional Arabian architecture and textiles. Ashour focuses on capturing the essence of old Islamic cities and their intricate designs, breathing new life into centuries-old motifs through contemporary palettes.
Her style bridges ancient decorative arts with feminine energy, making her a prominent figure in the revival of Islamic miniature aesthetics in the Middle East.
Malaysian artist Pui Wan Lim, founder of PicoWorm Studio, uses miniature art as a form of cultural preservation. By recreating disappearing Malaysian heritage sites—such as old shophouses, family-run eateries, and traditional kopitiams—she immortalizes a rapidly vanishing way of life.
What makes her work exceptional is her use of recycled materials to build these lifelike miniatures, underscoring the importance of sustainability alongside memory.
Lim’s art isn’t just nostalgic; it’s a gentle protest against urban erasure and an invitation to remember and protect what is slipping away.
Cambodian artist Dy Proeung offers perhaps the most poignant narrative among these luminaries. A former architecture teacher who survived the Khmer Rouge regime, Proeung spent decades reconstructing miniature models of Angkor Wat and other temples by hand. Made from cement and clay using hand-carved molds, his replicas are stunning in their authenticity and scale.
His work, displayed in his home garden, is less about commercial appeal and more about cultural resurrection. In every curve and contour of his temples lies a story of endurance, survival, and unyielding reverence for heritage.
Iranian conceptual artist Shahpour Pouyan offers a cerebral twist on the miniature form. Unlike traditional Persian miniatures, which brim with characters and narrative scenes, Pouyan’s work strips them of figures entirely.
His reimagined miniatures—like Reception Ceremony of Elkas Mirza without a single human present—force viewers to confront space, architecture, and the implications of absence. His minimalist approach raises philosophical questions about power, memory, and erasure. In doing so, Pouyan deconstructs and reclaims a genre deeply associated with storytelling, allowing silence to speak volumes.
Finally, from Singapore, Wilfred Cheah is a relative newcomer who found his calling later in life. A former soldier and interior designer, Cheah turned to miniature art to preserve the rapidly evolving landscape of Singapore’s hawker centres and shophouses. Using discarded household items, he crafts intricate dioramas that evoke the sensory and emotional richness of old Singapore.
His work has found an eager audience among collectors and locals alike, who see in his tiny vignettes a mirror of their own urban histories. Cheah’s journey reminds us that it’s never too late to start making art—or to start remembering.
