Nanotechnology designing skill to carve out such miniature creations

Nano sculptor Ganesh Subramaniyam was recently awarded a doctorate by the International Tamil University, USA, for his work.
Nanotechnology designing skill to carve out such miniature creations

KOCHI:Some sculptures are built on a huge scale and it surprises with its sheer size. But the sculptures created by sculptor Ganesh Subramaniyam are unique. It requires a special technical skill and nanotechnology designing skill to carve out such miniature creations, with detailing, no bigger than the eye of a needle and in some cases even smaller.

Ganesh has been making nano sculptures for the past 13 years. He embraced this art form when he took up the traditional job of jewellery making. Today, his collections include the world’s most unique and subtlest gold sculptures such as ‘A boat and boatman’ carved on a 30 mg gold granule which was his prime nano sculpture.

“Making a nano sculpture consumes a lot of time and is very difficult. The entire work can be done only by looking through a magnifying lens,” he says. The International Tamil University, USA,  felicitated him with a doctorate in nano sculpting in an event held in Chennai recently.

He has done more than 50 nano sculptures and is a pioneer in this field. An example is his tiny lockwork, it works like any other lock but its circumference is only 1 mm and weighs just 40 mg. This sculpture done by him is so intricate and it can be viewed and operated only by using a magnifying lens. It has been rated as the tiniest number lock ever made and has won the acclamation from the World Record Association, Hong Kong in 2013 and from the Elite World Record, London in 2014.

He also won accolades from famous personalities like late president A P J Abdul Kalam, late Uthradom Thirunal Maharaja, who presented him with a golden souvenir, renowned sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman and actor Mohanlal. He has even made a tiny Nataraja fitted on a ring with a magnifying glass. This is a unique ring which has a lens and opens at the press of a button. This tiny Nataraja was gifted to actor Mohanlal in 2009. He also presented a nano size gold cannon to Kalam. The nano gold cannon is placed on the refill of a pen and is around 3 mm in length and weighs around 35 mg. He has created nano jewellery and also a sculpture of a Kathakali artist on rice grain.

It requires a lot of effort and concentration in the making of nano sculptures. A slight negligence may ruin the effort of months. Ganesh has also received many awards from various cultural and social organisations. He has conducted a number of exhibitions in places like Kerala, Hyderabad, New Delhi. Presently he runs ‘Relax Home’ an art school at Poojappura.

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