With her expert scissors, nature artist Niharika Rajput craftily and carefully cuts small pieces of paper into small parts for her paper sculptures. She thinks about even the smallest details when she makes these pieces. From kingfishers to minivets, Rajput is able to bring her paper birds into life.
Through her artistry, Rajput intends to protect and conserve birds. In her many exhibitions and workshops, she spreads awareness about the threats that birds face today. At the same time, she also encourages love for a type of art that tends to be taken for granted: The art of sitting back, observing, and appreciating our surroundings.
Rajput shares the detailed process of creating her paper bird sculptures
The beginning of paper bird sculptures
In an interview with Nature inFocus, Rajput shared: “I have always had that love for wildlife and I was always curious about the world around me.” She further shares that when she was a child, a lot of her time was spent observing various creatures — birds, butterflies, and insects. She started doing abstract paper sculptures as a hobby when she was in college.
She tried doing this line of work for nearly a year. Some pieces of hers also got displayed across galleries in New Delhi. She mentioned how she was not satisfied with her art and decided to have a break.
It was during a family trip that she found radical inspiration. She saw a great flock of Red-billed Blue Magpies flying together. The sight caught her eye and left her mesmerized. She noted how that moment was a significant art shift and led her to focus on birds.
Rajput’s intricate process of making paper bird sculptures
At first glance, you can see how much thought was given to the detail of Rajput’s paper sculptures. She shares the detailed process that she undergoes in order to end up with her detailed masterpiece.
She first decides whether to go for a small version or an actual life-size version of a particular bird. After deciding, she studies the bird’s proportions. A lot of effort is spent on researching the anatomy of the bird. She takes time to watch videos and examine relevant photos. Doing so also helps her decide how she will display the paper sculpture. She considers details such as whether the wings will be spread out or tucked in. All of these are taken into account before she actually starts making the paper sculpture.
Once she is ready to start the paper sculpture, she makes complex sketches and silhouettes. After she has the sketches, she builds the structure of the body and then focuses on the characteristics of the bird’s face. Afterward, she works on the feathers—which is the lengthiest part of the entire process. “You never realize that there are so many feathers on one bird until that point,” she shares.
She then paints the paper sculpture. However, before doing so, she checks out different pictures of the bird in order to understand how its color changes under the sunlight.
While the size and details determine how long the entire process would take, it takes her roughly 1 to 3 months to accomplish each piece.
The sculptures reflect Rajput’s connection with nature
When asked about connecting with nature through art, Rajput shares how even if we are stuck indoors, it is the perfect time to delve into and observe the world. “As many of us are forced to stay indoors, we have also become more observant of the natural world outside.”
Rajput also shares that she observed how wildlife-based art has become more popular in India. She mentions that “it is very heartening to see that people are interested in nature and want to explore it further through different mediums.” (Nature inFocus)
