Dr. Gattem Venkatesh currently lives in Chicago. He is a visual artist and architect, specializing in painting and carving miniature sculptures on tips of pencils, chalk pieces, crayons, bamboo, matchsticks, and making architectural models using waste materials. He was awarded two national awards from the government of India and honorable doctorate (arts) from the International Peace University, Germany, 2019. Winner of the Limca Book of Records (2014) and the Guinness World Record in 2017 for carving the Empire State Building on a toothpick.