Give him a chalk piece or a pencil or a sheet of paper or a bunch of matchsticks or a few broken glass pieces or at least onion peel, Gattem Venkatesh is sure to come up with a miniature art in a jiffy.
A second year student of GITAM School of Architecture, Venkatesh says that his desire to convert an array of waste products into something creative began at the age of 15 years.
Ever since his maiden creation of Lord Ganesh with a box of glass bangles, there has been no looking back for the self-taught artist.
From designing a 24 X 18 m ship model by arranging a total of 5,432 paper boats (13 cm paper boat each) in a sequence that made him find a place in the Limca Book of Records to Eiffel Tower made of pens and a chessboard (1.2 cm X 1.2 cm) with miniature coins made of pencil lead along with a range of unbelievable images on toothpicks and matchsticks, Venkatesh has so far created over 250 miniature artworks.
Gives full credit
to parents
His dexterity in designing little marvels using a surgical blade and a cutter not only made him bag awards but also break a number of records. “I owe my success to my father Suri Babu and mother Satyavathi. Despite financial constraints, my parents, farmers of ChinaDoddigallu, a nondescript village of Nakkapalli Mandal, have always been encouraging me to keep my passion undimmed. They pushed me to realise my dreams. My mission is to make a mark in the field I have chosen to embark on,” he says, adding that he wanted to contribute to his hometown by setting up a permanent platform for aspiring artists like him. As an annual feature, he has been organising miniature artwork exhibitions in his hometown for several years.
Venkatesh can easily convert a toothpick into Empire State Building in 20 minutes. “The application to create this 12-mm little wonder in shortest time has already been sent to the Guinness Book of Records, I am waiting for their response,” he sums up.
