The Itty Bitty Mini Mart is a four-person miniature art studio. It is hard to explain what we do to the people we meet, as every single project has its own story. But because we attract a specific kind of crowd, we often get some interesting requests. And last month, we got a very fun one.
In July of 2025, my boss Margie was contacted by a gallery inquiring about the possibility of making miniature replicas of an artist’s pieces, for her birthday…it was the Gladstone Gallery in NYC. And the artist was no other than Anicka Yi.
You might know her for her“xeno-jellies” that were floating at the Tate Museum in 2022 for her installation “In Love with the World”.
The Minimart team felt connected to her work, and we decided to accept this challenge with excitement. And little butterlflies in our stomachs.
For this project we relied a lot on resin, something we only do on special occasions. Every single piece was a little puzzle in itself : How do yo keep the elements suspended in the resin? How many How do you keep the tiniest elements from drifting in the resin overnight? How do you cast a transparent object without loosing all the details?
And most of all, how do we complete the series in about two weeks?
Well, after dozens of prototypes and a few close calls, I’m proud to say we did it. Happy Birthday Anicka Yi!
We made replicas of eight pieces in total. Each one is assembled as a keychain. We were not sure why but this was a specific requirement from the gallery… maybe there’s an inside joke involved? Who knows!
All in all it was a wonderful project and it tickled our brains in the best ways possible.
Do you have an idea for a custom birthday gift? Contact the Itty Bitty Mini (m)art!