From India to the Lake Worth Beach Street Painting Festival
Meet the self-taught 3D chalk artist whose journey to downtown L-Dub is measured in much more than miles
OF THE 850 ARTISTS at the Lake Worth Beach Street Painting Festival this weekend, no one journeyed as far to get there than Singarapu ShivaRama Krishna.
You can catch the 36-year-old artist from India in action Saturday and Sunday on Lucerne Avenue, just east of the post office, where he’s creating a mind-bending 3D mural of a water pond.
His journey to South Florida from the village of Manthani, India, is measured not just in miles traveled (about 8,700 over 40 hours) but also in years of perseverance as a self-taught artist from a middle class Dalit family.
“Coming from a Dalit background, the road to a global platform involved overcoming many social and systemic hurdles,’’ said Krishna, known professionally as SSRK.
“These challenges only fueled my resolve to prove that technical genius and artistic talent belong to everyone,’’ he said.
The son of a farmer, he said his mother taught him to draw as a child. He said he overcame financial hardships to earn engineering degrees, including a masters.
And when he resigned from his job as an electrical engineer to pursue fine arts, he said his father “empowered me to follow my passion and flow like the air.’’
Krishna said he evolved artistically from drawing cartoons for local magazines to creating 3D “speed breaker“ designs on roads in India to improve traffic safety. He found a passion in drawing 3D chalk art images.
He said he wrote India’s first comprehensive book on 3D art techniques and has been awarded 10 design patents in the United Kingdom for his 3D drawing methodologies.
His YouTube channel has more than 2 million subscribers.
Krishna is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at his alma mater, JNTUH University College of Engineering in Manthani. He leads the SSRK Academy to promote the development of ancient and modern 3D art.
His wife Mounika “is also a talented artist,’’ he said. They have two children: a 7-year-old daughter, Himani, and a 9-month-old son, Rudved.
“My work is a legacy I am building for them,’’ he said.
His arrival in Lake Worth Beach does not mark his first time in the United States.
In 2023, he participated in the Downtown Minneapolis Street Art Festival. He was selected for the 2024 Lake Worth Street Painting Festival but couldn’t afford to make the trip.
He was able to travel to South Florida this week with support from his main sponsors in India: Abhijith Jayanthi, founder and chairman of SimplyJITH Group of Companies, and Venkata Naveen Damaraju.
The Lake Worth Beach Street Painting Festival provided a $500 stipend and lodging.
“It was a great disappointment to miss the 2024 festival. This is why being here in 2026 is so meaningful to me,’’ Krishna said. “I am deeply grateful to my supporters who stood by me when resources were scarce.’’
This weekend’s festival features 25 artists from 16 states, including California, Colorado and Utah. Most others are Floridians who had a relatively easy commute to downtown Lake Worth Beach.
India is 10 ½ hours ahead of Florida. So, Krishna’s 40-hour journey to Lake Worth Beach started Thursday morning (Wednesday, South Florida time) when he hopped on a bus in Manthani for a 4 ½ ride to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.
After a four-hour flight to Bahrain, he connected on a 16-hour flight to New York City where he made a final connection to Palm Beach International Airport, arriving Friday night.
He said he tried to adjust his sleep schedule to reduce jet lag.
“However, the excitement of the festival and the energy of the crowd are usually enough to keep me focused and energized once I start drawing,’’ he said.
His work at the Lake Worth Beach Street Painting Festival is called the “MayaSabha,” or “Hall of Illusions.” It is “inspired by the ‘Mahabharata. In that epic, King Duryodhana was deceived by the 3D illusions using only his natural sight,’’ he said.
“Growing up, I was mesmerized by the idea of a floor so realistic it could deceive a king. Bringing this 1,000-year-old Indian concept to a modern pavement in Florida is a way to bridge my heritage with the contemporary world.’’
He said he encourages visitors to stop by and say hello during the festival — and to photograph his 3D pond.
“While I use modern camera lenses to help today’s audience sense the 3D effect,’’ he said, “I am essentially reviving a thousands-year-old Indian science.’’
