A hand holds a tiny peahen sculpture with a regal crown

Peahen. All images © Nayan Shrimali and Venus Bird, shared with permission

Nayan Shrimali and Venus Bird, of The Paper Ark, approach conservation and environmental activism on a tiny scale. The artists (previously) create miniature renditions of flora and fauna that harness the textured, buildable potentials of paper to showcase the beauty and singularity of threatened and endangered species.

After cutting and layering tiny bits of the material, Shrimali and Bird add details with watercolor, whether on the striped quills of a crested porcupine or the regal crown of the peahen. While largely true to life in anatomy and color, most of the portraits are small enough to fit on the tip of a finger.

Shrimali shares that The Paper Ark has started to create hand-cranked wildlife automata, which you find along with an extensive archive of creatures on Instagram. Shop prints and available originals on Etsy.

 

A miniature hummingbird sculpture near a flower

Albino ruby-throated hummingbird

A tiny spiky porcupine rests on the tip of a finger

Crested porcupine

A tiny flower box with insects and birds is made of vibrant layered paper

Endangered pollinators

A brown moth uses its proboscis to suck nectar from a tiny flower sculpture help up by a hand

Madagascan sphinx moth

A green beetle made of paper rests on a white backdrop

Glorius scarab beetle

A hand holds a paper sculpture of a small bird perched on a flower

Cape sugarbird

Two white birds dancing with their wings splayed and beaks touching

Great egrets

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A Veritable Aviary of Birds and Pollinators by The Paper Ark Are Small Enough to Perch on the Tip of a Finger appeared first on Colossal.

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