Numerous Strips of Colorful Paper Capture the Energy of Birds in Motion

Heron

When we think of birds, we usually imagine them mid-flight or in motion. Artist Lisa Lloyd manages to capture the same sense of energy winged creatures have in real-life in her mesmerizing paper art. She cuts numerous strips of colored paper in long swooping curves to create dynamic images of birds swirling through the sky.

Previously, Lloyd's paper sculptures depicted different species of birds at rest, or in static positions to highlight their unique patterns and anatomy. In her newest works, she wanted to use her art form to portray something different. “My aim was to create abstracted birds using curves to create movement with different paper materials, like translucent, metallic, and flat graphic color,” Lloyd explains to My Modern Met. “I tried to express how I felt in movement—the energy of frustration, anger, and fear. They are all a direct response to life events, both personal and out in the world.”

Her piece Heron features a long-beaked bird curled into the shape of a circle, its paper strip feathers splayed to create a fringe effect. Its abstract body blends in with the energy of the plumage, as though the heron is zipping through the air at an ultra-swift pace. Similarly, her sculptures Abel and Ritual have long wings and tails which curve dramatically around the birds' bodies. “I noticed that a lot of the pictures I was looking at [of birds being aggressive with each other] were actually of birds mating, or fighting for a territory to mate. I was fascinated by how similar they are in nature: aggression and fighting, passion, and pain. I think our mating rituals are not that different,” she continues.

Another of Lloyd's new sculptures, Pangolin, doesn't depict just one bird, but an amalgam of different animals. “This is a large wall art piece about endangered animals using abstract details,” Lloyd says. “The blue scales are a pangolin (the most trafficked animal in the world), [there's also] orangutan fur, leatherback turtle, and parrots. I wanted to capture a ‘flurry of nature' and the living world.”

You can purchase prints of Pangolin and Heron through Art Republic, and find more prints of Lloyd's work on her online store.