The Hindu : New Delhi News : His quest for finesse knows no boundaries

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Monday, Aug 16, 2010
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New Delhi

His quest for finesse knows no boundaries

Neha Alawadhi

Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

Record Breaker: Miniature artist Malla Siva in New Delhi.

NEW DELHI: As technology moves towards nano dimensions, the hands of artist Malla Siva carve out tiny creations that win him awards but little recognition. Miniature artist and sculptor, Malla has featured in the Guinness Book of World Records twice for creating the smallest complete chess board and chess pieces.

A senior assistant loco pilot at South-East Central Railways, the Vishakapatnam resident created a world record in 2007 when he created the smallest chess board with board dimensions of 26 mm by 26 mm, and in 2008 when he created an even smaller board measuring 18 mm by 18 mm, sculpted completely by hand. The pawn pieces were as small as 6 mm the first time, and 4 mm the second time.

Malla further diminished dimensions this year when he created a board measuring 8 mm by 8 mm, with the pawn piece measuring 2 mm and the king piece measuring 4.5 mm. “I have submitted [the set] for third attempt at the record this year,” he says.

Each time, the material used was “slate and slate pencils” and the pieces were finished with a coat of paint to make them more stable. Each chess board had 64 precisely divided black and white squares with the pieces neatly lined up on either side, just like a “real” board.

Malla is not only a skilled sculptor, but an experienced miniature painting artist as well. “I have been painting and sculpting since childhood. My cousin Malla Lakshmi Narayana guided me and my parents encouraged me,” he says.

Working with a variety of medium, the artist has to his credit “a miniature globe of 10 mm radius”, “three dimensional dot paintings made using ball pen” and “water colour miniatures painted using brushes the size of human hair”. But making the chess sets was a challenge because the “dimensions are very small. Sometimes you work an entire day on making one piece of the set and in the end it breaks because the material is so smooth”.

“The tools used for sculpting,” he said, “are the same as those for making jewellery. Small needle-like files are required”. A “micro lens” assisted the sculpting process since the “eyes get strained”.

Malla has displayed his works at “national exhibitions held in Andhra Pradesh” and has “won many awards and prizes”.

He began “coaching classes” to pass on his art, but had to abandon them because it was not financially viable.

But it is that elusive “appreciation” from someone in high authority that Malla finds lacking. “Everywhere I go, people like my work. They give me awards and certificates. But no one offers any financial support which is essential for pursuing my work on a large scale,” he rues.

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