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Vijay Kumar Somanchi, a self taught artist, clearly understands his painting repertoire. He has enthralled viewers with his oil painting exhibitions throughout the country. Unique in their visual appeal, all his oil paintings reflect the adventurous soul that he is, through his untouched and unexpected scapes.
Limitless in his creative instincts, Vijay Kumar came upon a singular artistic style of painting technique which wasn’t used till then. He used linseed oil and lamp soot to create a unique textural finish that brings out depth to a great extent. Both his oil paintings and the technique won instant approval as they have captured the eye of one and all alike. The impact resulted in earning him a State Award the same year. Subsequently, his paintings have frequently figured in exhibitions at State, Regional and National levels.
 Graduating from Andhra University with sciences, Vijay Kumar has joined State Bank of India. Though a responsible employee, he kept honing his painting skills. Initially worked with water colors like any starter, he ventured into oil paintings during which he worked on his unique painting technique. He felt his technique giving him an edge in abstract paintings to create floating forms and sometimes animal forms, and stuck to it for nearly a decade.
Almost at the moment of being labeled an abstract paintings artist, he felt an urge to communicate even to the layman through his paintings. And he took the strong yet silent, resilient, and awe inspiring mountains as his subject. Never diverting from his trusted painting technique he still paints rocky surfaces and rugged hills and cliffs standing against different shades of skies. Though the total absence of life and the feeling of an unknown world not only create a sense of mystery, they appear inviting to those inclined towards adventure. The snowy peaks, the craggy slopes lead the eye to a fading horizon and ultimately culminate in an elevating mystique.
 His philosophy – “The different colors in skies reflect the varied and turbulent times and the mountains interpret the humans. As mountains withstand the great challenges thrown at them by nature and these days mankind as well, humans have to weather all situations.” “My paintings and my efforts would be justified if they could inspire atleast one man” is what he opines.
Very recently, the artist has also tried his hand at paintings in acrylic medium. Through these paintings he has tried to capture a tiny life existence in comparison with the gargantuan nature. These acrylic works are still to be exhibited in his painting exhibitions.
Since 1978, Vijay Kumar has been exhibiting his oil paintings at various places spread across the country [Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Bombay and Delhi to name a few]. He has participated in various State, Regional level Artists’ Camps [Amaravathi, Hyderabad (A.P), Bijapur, Manipal and Bangalore (Karnataka) to name a few]. His works have been collected by Lalit Kala Akademi (New Delhi, Chennai & Hyderabad) and various corporate bodies. His paintings are also in private collections, in and out of the country.
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