Detail

Tabla!, 8 January 2026 - Self-taught artist Sistla Satya Satvik, a 20-year-old Diploma in Chemical Engineering (DCHE) alumnus from SP has created a large, detailed pencil artwork paying tribute to Indian classical dance, highlighting the beauty and diversity of traditional forms such as Kathakali, Bharatanatyam, Manipuri and Sattriya. While working on his final‑year chemical engineering project, he spent months researching and sketching eight dancers, capturing the essence of each style through careful attention to posture, facial expression and costume details. Inspired by photographing dance performances with his school’s cultural society, he chose pencil as his medium to challenge himself to convey motion and emotion without colour, aiming to inspire cultural pride and curiosity among younger generations through his piece Nritya Rasa: The Essence of Dance.

Mr Satvik is mostly self-taught and picked up drawing techniques for temple-style art from YouTube tutorials and Instagram reels. Photo: Sistla Satya Satvik