MYSURU: Amritsar's Golden Temple built using 1500+ pen refills? That is what MR Sreenivasulu, a miniature artist from Bengaluru, has done to commemorate his 13th year as a miniature artist in 2020.
Sreenivasulu needed two years and four months to complete his labour of love. It is part of his attempts to create awareness about plastics and their hazardous effect on the world.
There are other world-renowned monuments he has brought to life using pen refills too.
He began by creating a miniature model of the 'Eiffel Tower' using 200-used pen refills in 2007. Ten years later, he brought the Charminar, Big Ben, Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Gateway of India, Seattle Space Needle, Sydney Harbor Bridge and St Philomena Church, Mysuru, to life using 2500+ pen refills.
Sreenivasulu's wish is to re-create all the famous landmarks across the world and to use them as education material for architecture students.
A native of Dharmavaram, Andhra Pradesh, he began making miniature house models using marriage invitation cards at a tender age. At the age of seven, he got into painting too. He later decided to learn dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and folk dance and has given many stage performances.
He also makes sculptures using chalks.
It was his hobby of collecting used pen refills from friends that would lead him to recreating the Golden Temple and the other famous monuments.
Sreenivasulu wanted to become an architect, but he had enrolled for computer science and engineering as advised by his parents. After a few years, he decided to pursue his passion for architecture and also to create something out of the used pen refills he had collected over the years.
As part of 'Say No to Plastic' programme, which he organises for awareness on global warming in schools and colleges, he set up pen refill collection boxes. The refills collected in this manner too went into the making of other miniature structures.
Sreenivasulu, who works as a software engineer in Bengaluru, said, "Pen refills are usually ignored and may not be involved in plastic recycling process. As most of the pen users are school and college-going students, there can be an enormous impact if we educate them on the dangers of plastic waste and on 3R principle – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle."
He has exhibited his artworks in various prominent events and been featured in various record books too.
Sreenivasulu will take part in an upcoming international event the Rosanna Orlandi(RO) Plastic Prize. He is among the finalists across the world for this award. This award is part of Milan Design Week in Milan, Italy in September-October. He will be exhibiting miniature artworks in Milan and RO Plastic Prize function will be happening at the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum, Milan.