Connecting the dots with elan

We chat with young stippling artist Daksesh Velu who is all of 18 and recently held an exhibition of his works in Bengaluru.

Artville Cafe in HRBR Layout, Bengaluru, recently hosted an exhibition by young stippling artist Daksesh Velu. Stippling is a technique whereby an image is created using dots of varying density and size.

“I have to take my board exams in two months,” Velu, who’s just short of 18 and not quite out of school, admits with a nervous grin. It took him just over two years to prepare the 20 pieces that are on display at the exhibition titled ‘Every Dot Matters’. A student of commerce— his father feels he needs a back-up plan in case the art takes him nowhere — Velu, who has already bagged an award for his work in an all-India competition, would like to apply to art and design schools to explore his talent once he’s done with his pre-university.

At ‘Every Dot Matters’, among the the pictures on display are five landscapes and 15 portraits of famous personalities from around the world who have inspired Daksesh Velu to be a better person. They include freedom fighters like Mandela and Gandhi, sportsmen Tendulkar and Pele, musician A R Rahman, and contemporary women of substance, Malala and Jacinda Ardern.

“When I was younger, I would look at all these people and wanted to be like all of them, but now I aim for their best traits and want to absorb those,” says the artist who is most inspired by stories of selflessness and random acts of kindness.

Velu hasn’t had an easy time of it in the last few years. When he was in class 9, his family went through a crisis that impacted him deeply and he remembers how he held on to his art like a crutch. His mentor and art master at Artville went out of his way to help him, he remembers, and ever since then, one of his goals has been to pay it forward. Some time ago he, along with a friend, held an art sale in school and raised Rs 14,000 out of which they gave away the bulk to charity. “Why not? I have benefitted from the kindness of complete strangers. I too would like to give back to society.”

Photographic quality

Coming back to the exhibition, when you comment on the almost photographic quality of his portraits — some of which took one-and-a-half to two months to complete — he says that while the end result may look fine, it takes a fair bit of effort to capture details, like wrinkles and hair, for instance. His favourite is the Mandela portrait, because though it was the hardest to execute, it turned out best according to him. You ask him about the anguished self-portrait made during the 2020 lockdown and he acknowledges the uncertainty and loss of control he felt during the time.

“Stippling helps me zone out; some people like to read to escape reality, I stipple and listen to music to experience a sense of peace.”

Daksesh Velu is a man with a plan. Design school aside, he hopes to continue hosting his own YouTube show called ‘Good Factor’ (because filmmaking is another passion) that tries to channel positivity in these difficult times. But for all his ideas and aspirations, the question that still rattles him is, ‘What would you like to be when you grow-up?’

“It’s like at 18, I am expected to decide what the next 15 years of my life should look like!”