Lucy Jean Green, Kinetic Artist and Paper Sculptor

One of my neighbors must have put up a new bird feeder recently, because there's been an influx of feathered friends in the yard. I've been googling the more unusual ones and even spotted an owl one dark, drizzly morning. I wonder if it was Siri who picked up on my newfound interest in birding and shared the info with Instagram... I'm suddenly seeing lots of bird posts. In fact, IG is where I was introduced to the graceful paper bird sculptures of Lucy Jean Green, many of which include a kinetic mechanism.

kinetic paper sculpture of owl with wings outspread surrounded by paper cuttings

Lucy Jean explained that her work is inspired by mythology and facts about birds. I create sculptures and delicate automata by hand cutting paper and handcrafting brass mechanisms. Each sculpture is displayed inside a glass bell jar with a wooden base, or encased in a glass fronted, wooden box frame, with a hand-stained finish.

She lives in Mytholmroyd, a small village in West Yorkshire, England, and has always loved making things. As a shy child, Lucy Jean preferred to figure out a process on her own rather than ask for help. This had its upside, as it led to a deeper understanding of how things work.

All of my processes are self-taught and have taken me years to refine and perfect. Though I will ask for help now if I need it, I enjoy figuring things out with my hands first.

She told me she became interested in kinetic sculpture when starting to write her dissertation at university. I was looking into puppetry, then discovered automata, and met with a lovely guy at Mackinnon and Saunders [an animation studio] who introduced me to the world of kinetic sculpture.

For the next year I researched and experimented with different mechanisms before making one that suited my bird sculptures, the one I still use today and continue to refine with every sculpture.

A kinetic sculpture is fascinating to watch as you'll see in the owl video above. Then have a look at the six week, labor-intensive process (condensed to one minute) that it took to create a framed kinetic kingfisher.

To achieve the beautiful color gradients that you see on some of the birds, Lucy Jean paints card with iridescent paints.

She enjoys creating more than birds... for example, a lovely glass ornament that contains a penguin and fir trees is available in her Etsy shop. This past year she was commissioned to make bats, beetles, and baubles, and is happy to take on new challenges.

Lucy Jean will be exhibiting at art fairs in Yorkshire and Manchester throughout 2025. For updates, follow @nameandcolour (along with her large legion of fans!) on Instagram.