About us
"The Paper Ark," formerly called NVillustration is an artistic collaboration between Venus Bird and Nayan Shrimali. The Paper Ark strives to redefine paper as a material and use art as a means of educating people about our planet's unique biodiversity. We want to bring attention to how fragile everyone is through art and stories. To pique viewers' curiosity and encourage them to learn more about our wildlife, we took on the challenge of creating miniature, highly detailed birds, animals and all the beautiful beings found in the world.
Mother Earth is our greatest motivator; we go birdwatching and exploring the wilderness around our city on a frequent basis. Every time we go out, we return with our minds full of amazing experiences and information, such as aiding Red Wattled Lapwing chicks to cross a road, releasing a turtle back into a river from a field, or witnessing a butterfly emerge from a pupa in the morning. And there is still so much to experience and see in nature that one lifetime will not suffice.
We therefore hope to create a world that is more conscious of and knowledgeable about the wildlife they share the planet with by using the simple material paper as our medium and exploring the versatile characteristics of paper to create art which is inspired from our beloved wild beings.
Meet the Artists
Nayan,
The creator of all the tiny paper cut sculptures at The Paper Ark is Nayan, Born in Gandhinagar, Gujarat (India) and a furniture and interior design graduate from National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad, India. He now works full-time as a paper cut artist. The straightforward yet complex organic structures found in nature have an influence on Nayan's art. You can observe how Nayan's art skillfully portrays the intricacies of nature in paper.
Venus Bird,
Watercolour artist Venus Bird (earlier known as Vaishali) is also an avid birder hails from Ahmedabad, Gujarat (India). Her love of birds is evident in every piece she creates, which is inspired by captivating birds and their vibrant colours. Her work honours the vivid palette of nature and all living things. Venus holds a diploma in animation and visual effects, which broadens her skill set. The Paper Ark's miniature paper art is alive with her colours.