Dhyan Sreejith with his string art portrait of HH the Amir
Doha: A 12-year-old boy Dhyan Sreejith has taken a unique approach to honour the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. When his teacher assigned the task of creating greeting cards for H H the Amir on his birthday, June 3, Dhyan decided to do something extraordinary.
A student from Loyola International School in Al Wukair, Dhyan chose to craft a special portrait of H H the Amir using the intricate technique of string art, also known as nail and thread art.
This art form involves hammering nails into a wooden board to outline a figure and then weaving thread around the nails to complete the portrait.
Dhyan working on Amir's artwork
Dhyan’s creation was not a small feat. He used a 1m x 1m plywood board, 320 nails, 4.5 kilometres of thread, and created 4,000 lines, dedicating between 45 to 50 hours to bring His Highness’s likeness to life.
“I decided to create a string art portrait of the Amir instead of a greeting card because I wanted to put more effort into it and also because I wanted my gift to be different,” Dhyan told The Peninsula.
“I hope my school will approach H H the Amir’s office to showcase my artwork. It would be really nice if H H the Amir will see it and accept the portrait as my gift.”
This isn’t Dhyan’s first foray into the world of art.
His father, Sreejith Nalumakkal, originally from Kerala, India, shared that Dhyan previously created a portrait of the famous Kerala singer KS Chithra, which went viral last year.
Dhyan with his artwork of the famous Kerala singer KS Chithra
Beyond his artistic talents, Dhyan has also made a significant impact in the world of puzzles. He holds the Arabian World Records, International Book of Records, Asia Book of Records, and India Book of Records for solving the Pyraminx Puzzle (a triangular Rubik’s Cube) 62 times in 15 minutes.
“His skills extend to blindfolded Rubik’s cube challenges and solving cubes while skating,” Dhyan’s father proudly told The Peninsula.
Looking ahead, Dhyan plans to explore new creative avenues, including making mosaic portraits using Rubik’s cubes and crafting more thread art pieces.
“With his exceptional talent and determination, we hope he will be someone to watch in the world of young artists. We will support him all the way,” said Dhyan’s mother, Lakshmi.
