An eraser is one of the most reliable tools for an artist. It allows them to delete guide lines and mistakes that would otherwise ruin all the progress made on a project. But with each use of the eraser, there are shavings left behind. Most people brush them off, but not Japanese artist Saya Irie. She collects the eraser residue and repurposes it into new artworks as her primary material.
In her Indiana Bird Dust series, Irie transforms eraser shavings into detailed sculptures of birds. She doesn’t use random bits of erasure shavings, though. The material she uses for each sculpture has a purposeful history that connects to the resulting sculpture.
One time, Irie was browsing an old bookstore when she came across a book with colorful nature illustrations. The drawings depicted American mid-west birds doing things like hunting and looking after their eggs. Intrigued, Irie took the book home. She then grabbed an eraser and put it to the page, vanishing the two-dimensional birds from the paper. The artist took the colorful particles that remained and rebuilt each bird into a tiny sculpture.
Irie faithfully recreated the birds and their surrounding natural environments, but decided to introduce subtle changes, whether it was altering their poses or placing berries and leaves in their beaks. The resulting work not only makes these birds more alive, but also aims to send a message about memory and the ways images shape our perception of the world.
According to Iris, this project is the most direct expression of the central concept of her work; that of destruction and recreation. “By erasing printed images from the book and transforming the resulting eraser shavings into sculpture, the images are given a new physical life,” she says in her artist statement.
Irie’s work will be shown as part of the 2027 Women to Watch at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C., from April 9 through August 15, 2027. To stay up to date with her work, follow Saya Irie on Instagram.
Japanese artist Saya Irie creates detailed bird sculptures made of eraser shavings.
“Indiana Birds Dust” 2024. Illustrated book, eraser shavings, resin clay, short story.
“Indiana Birds Dust” 2024. Illustrated book, eraser shavings, resin clay, short story.
“Indiana Birds Dust” 2024. Illustrated book, eraser shavings, resin clay, short story.
She erases 2D images of birds and uses the shavings to recreate a 3D sculptures of them.
“Indiana Birds Dust” 2024. Illustrated book, eraser shavings, resin clay, short story.
“Bird Dust (Conirostres)” 2025. Natural history illustration, eraser shavings, resin clay.
“Bird Dust (Conirostres)” 2025. Natural history illustration, eraser shavings, resin clay.
“Bird Dust (Conirostres)” 2025. Natural history illustration, eraser shavings, resin clay.
“Bird Dust (Conirostris)” 2025. Natural history illustration, eraser shavings, resin clay.
Each bird sculpture is a remake of the bird she erased, representing nature’s cycle of destruction and recreation.
“Bird Dust (Hummingbird II)” 2025. Natural history illustration, eraser shavings, polymer clay.
“Bird Dust (Macaw)” 2025. Natural history illustration, eraser shavings, polymer clay.
“Bird Dust (Harlequin Duck)” 2025. Natural history illustration, eraser shavings, polymer clay.
“Indiana Birds Dust” 2024. Illustrated book, eraser shavings, resin clay, short story.
“Indiana Birds Dust” 2024. Illustrated book, eraser shavings, resin clay, short story.
Irie Saya: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Irie Saya.
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