Great Green Macaws Come to Life in This Incredibly Intricate Paper Sculpture

After about a decade creating paper art together, Nayan Shrimali and Venus Bird have their collaboration down to a science—and an art.

“She’s the color girl,” says Shrimali, “and I’m the cutting guy.”

As part of their joint creative venture, The Paper Ark, the couple craft delicate sculptures out of their studio in Ahmedabad, India, with a focus on raising awareness about wild species and the importance of healthy ecosystems. “We try to create them in their particular habitat: the fruits they like, the trees they love,” says Bird. Their piece for The Aviary, “Guardians of the Canopy,” frames a pair of Great Green Macaws—hefty, striking parrots found in Central and northern South America—perched in a cloud of branches. The species plays a vital role in dispersing seeds and keeping tropical rainforests healthy, the artists point out, but face dire threats as that habitat shrinks due to deforestation.

Their process starts with extensive research. If the birds are local, the artists will try to observe them in their natural habitat, sometimes even following them by bicycle to their roosts. Because Great Green Macaws live on the other side of the globe, Bird turned to eBird and documentaries before proposing a concept for the piece.

Shrimali took over to draft a sketch, then used a surgical knife to cut out all of the teeny-tiny paper pieces to conjure the birds and their habitat: feathers, beaks, leaves, twigs. Next, the shapes went back to Bird, the painter. She prefers watercolors because they have a rich matte finish and good transparency. “It really gives a good feeling to natural elements,” she says. Bird is very particular about color and only paints in natural light, which makes it difficult to work during monsoon season or even a cloudy day. “Then the studio is shut,” Shrimali jokes.

After the watercolors dried, Shrimali assembled the many bits and pieces into the final work with his fingers, tweezers, and glue. The remarkably lifelike sculptural painting resembles a diorama; Shrimali describes it as “2.5 dimensional.”

It’s a style that plays to their strengths: Shrimali studied furniture and interior design, while Bird specialized in animation and visual effects. They met while working on a project involving miniature models and started a studio together in 2014. But it took a few years to really find their groove, and their calling.

The pair would regularly visit a canal near their studio in the mornings and evenings to take solace in nature. One day, they spotted a yellow bird flying by; when they asked locals for help identifying the species, nobody knew it. Eventually, they discovered it was an Indian Golden Oriole, but they were amazed at how few people were aware of the vibrant wildlife around them, or of the various threats they face due to human activity and habitat destruction.

The encounter inspired a new project: Starting in 2018, Shrimali and Bird would make a wildlife miniature out of paper every day for 30 days, sharing their creations along with information about the species on social media to spread awareness through art. The reception was so positive that 30 days became 365 days, and then 1,000 days. They often posed the species on natural materials from their habitats and photographed them outside so people could connect the creatures with their environment. “This one thousand days was actually what changed our lives,” Nayan says.

Since concluding that “1,000 Feathers” project, which was all about miniatures, their art works have become much larger and more ambitious, so they can show more detail and more habitat. Nayan and Venus now spend two to three weeks on a single piece.

But the focus on raising awareness for the natural world hasn’t wavered. The artists hope their delicate pieces can bring people closer to species such as the critically endangered Great Green Macaw—and serve as a reminder to protect the fragile ecosystems they need. “There are so many beautiful species around that deserve good habitat and environment,” Venus says. “Through our art, we push people to understand them and start trying to coexist with them.”

This piece originally ran in the Spring 2026 issue. To receive our print magazine, become a member by making a donation today.