He has made over 1,000 masterpieces
A piece of wood, a chisel, a hacksaw blade and a few hours of time are enough for Vallivireddy Srinivasa Rao to carve out a wooden marvel.
The self-taught artist is adept at making wooden portraits and created over 1,000 masterpieces in the past two decades. His fascination for wooden marvels turned into a passion when he was in Class IX.
“That was when I spent kneeling down in the principal’s room for not completing my homework.
“But, the wooden portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru kept on the desk caught my attention and I promised myself that one day I would be experimenting with the medium,” he told The Hindu.
A couple of years down the line, he kept his promise. Initially, the student-turned-artist started off with decorative pieces and later tried designing wooden portraits with equal ease. His masterpieces comprise portraits of freedom fighters, political leaders and film personalities. Mr. Rao found place in the Limca Book of Records, High Range Book of Records and Book of State Records for carving over 650 wooden portraits. With a collection of over 1,000 wooden carvings, Mr. Rao’s next endeavour is to enter the Guinness Book.
