Philosophy and art of life

Artist Narasinga Rao Vanapalli has worked on the heights of advertisement hoardings and risen to a point, where his works form a part of the exhibition organised by the National Archives of India, New Delhi, as a part of the “Swachhagraha” Bapu Ko Karyanjali (Ek Abhiyan, Ek Pradarshani) to mark 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s first experiment of Satyagraha in Champaran.

Says Narasinga Rao, “I was lucky to have the guidance of eminent sculptor Ravinder Reddy and print making expert Sudhakar Reddy at Visakhapatnam. I was introduced to the Gandhian philosophy during my yoga classes, and learnt how it could improve the process of bringing peace and connect between mind and body.  This has inspired me to start a project on the various aspects in the life of Mahatma, for nearly two years at ‘Kala Gram’ in Visakhapatnam.”

Given the material that he uses, the works of Narasinga Rao have an unique finish. It’s all about handmade paper, iron rods and GI wires. Says Narasinga Rao, “It was all just by chance. I belong to an economically backward family. I had to send an entry to the 77th AIFACS exhibition and did not have the required '5,000 to make my work with the normal materials used for sculpture. Since there was no restriction on the usage of material, I found handmade paper to be the most easily available and an affordable medium.

A noteworthy project that I was doing — was to ‘bring life’ into a tree that had fallen down. It’s a beautiful wood sculpture of a basketball player etched right into the tree — bringing it back to life.” Further adding, Narasinga says, “I am absolutely thrilled that my works have found their way into the digital exhibition curated by Birad Yajnik and inaugurated by none other than our Prime Minister. I will be working towards the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma and my art would always aim at creating a “peaceful environment” in the minds of every human being. Art is a great leveler and unites all thoughts towards a kind of harmony.”