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Naiad Wong
USA
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"My greatest hope is to help save these vanishing birds."
Naiad Wong is an avid animal lover whose art grows from a lifelong fascination with rare creatures, and above all with birds. Drawn especially to species on the edge of vanishing, she has built a practice devoted to the endangered and the extinct. Her sculptures and paintings are acts of devotion as much as artistry, ways of looking closely at animals most people will never encounter in the wild. Through this focused attention, Wong transforms her love of the natural world into work that carries both beauty and purpose, inviting viewers to share her wonder at fragile lives and to feel the urgency of protecting what still remains.
Nene Goose With Baby | Mixed Media
$500
5 in x 7 in
Hawaiian Nene Goose, Hawaii's state bird, with baby enjoying Ohelo berries on the lava field of Hawaii Island.
Raised in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Wong still makes her home on the island's Windward side, deeply rooted in the place that shapes her art. Her path to a full artistic life was not direct. She originally majored in French and History and lived for a time in France, later teaching World History and European History at community colleges on Oahu for several decades. Only now is she able to devote her full attention to her art. That long immersion in history and culture continues to inform her work, giving it a depth of perspective drawn from years of study, travel, and teaching across two continents.
I’iwi and Ohia Lehua | Acrylic
$600
17 in x 21 in
The I'iwi is one of the last remaining species that still live in the Hawaiian rainforests. It feeds on Ohia Lehua blossoms with its specialized beak. Its feathers were also prized for the capes of Hawaiian royalty.
"Through sculpture, I return lost species to living memory."
Her love of nature was inherited, passed down through a family with a deep devotion to animals and especially to rare species. This shared passion has carried Wong across the world, for she loves to travel and has journeyed far to see many of these rare creatures in the wild. Observing animals in their own environments gives her firsthand inspiration for her sculptures and paintings, grounding her work in lived encounter rather than mere reference. Her travels in Europe, together with her background in European history, have likewise shaped her artistic sensibility, weaving a cultural richness through work that is at heart about the natural world.
Nene With Silversword | Mixed Media
$600
8 in x 10 in
Nene geese, Hawaii's state bird, with the native silversword plant, which only grows on the slopes of Haleakala mountain on Maui.
From a young age, Wong has loved both sculpture and painting, working in these forms since childhood. Early on she discovered polymer clay, which has remained her preferred medium ever since, valued for its remarkable flexibility and its capacity to hold extreme, lifelike detail. This early and enduring connection to her materials speaks to the seriousness of her artistic instinct, formed long before it became a full vocation. The intimacy she has developed with polymer clay over the years allows her to render her subjects with a precision and delicacy that few other materials could achieve, and it lies at the technical heart of her mature work.
The O'u was a Hawaiian bird that specialized in eating the seeds of the native 'ie 'ie vine. The vine grows in the high mountains of Hawaii.
Extinct O’u Bird With ‘ie ‘ie Vine | Mixed Media
NFS
19 in x 12 in
"Hardly anyone encounters these fragile birds alive, so my dearest wish is that a sculpture might awaken love for them across the whole world."
"I was raised surrounded by the native birds of these islands, and I have watched nearly all of them slip away, leaving only a scattered few clinging on at high elevations. My method starts with long study of each creature, its diet and the vanishing blossoms it once relied upon, before I shape it from clay and paint it plume by plume until it almost seems to stir. Many that I recreate no longer exist anywhere, so a finished piece becomes their remembrance, my quiet way of keeping their splendor present and urging others to defend those that endure."
I’iwi With Lobelia Grayana | Mixed Media
NFS
18 in x 10 in
The I'iwi is one of the few Hawaiian birds still living in the rainforests of Hawaii. It feeds on lobelia flowers in the Hawaiian mountains. This I'iwi is about to take nectar from a Lobelia Grayana, a very rare flower found on the island of Maui.
Among all creatures, it is the birds of Hawaii that stir her deepest passion. Hawaii is home to unique species of rare birds, many so scarce that they are found on only one of the eight islands that make up the state. These birds have also held profound cultural significance. In Hawaiian tradition, only royalty were permitted to wear capes made from thousands of feathers, the yellow and red plumage painstakingly gathered by bird trappers and fashioned into the ʻahu ʻula, the royal feather capes. For Wong, this history binds the birds to the very identity of the islands she calls home.
Ohelo Berry Breakfast | Acrylic
$600
17 in x 21 in
Nene, Hawaii's state bird, wandering the lava fields at sunrise in search of native Ohelo berries.
That cultural richness stands in painful contrast to the birds' present plight. Most native species of Hawaiian birds are now extinct, with only a few remaining in the high mountains of the islands. The last surviving species, clinging to existence on Maui, Hawaii, Kauai, and Oahu, are themselves in grave danger of disappearing. For Wong, this loss is not a distant statistic but an urgent reality that gives her work its purpose. She creates in the shadow of extinction, determined that her art should stand as both a record and a plea, honoring what survives while there is still time to protect it.
The Mamo was a Hawaiian honeycreeper with a curved beak to feed on the nectar of Hawaiian flowers such as the Oha Wai, a very rare Hawaiian flower. The Mamo's yellow feathers were used in the capes of Hawaiian royalty.
Extinct Mamo Bird With White Oha Wai | Mixed Media
$550
9 in x 12 in
Through sculpture and painting, Wong hopes to bring greater awareness to these birds and to assist in their conservation. Few people will ever see such rare creatures in nature, and so her deepest hope is that her sculptures might inspire a worldwide appreciation of their beauty. Her art becomes a form of quiet advocacy, using wonder rather than warning to make the case for protecting these fragile species. And for the many birds that have already disappeared, she turns to sculpture and painting to bring their memory back to life, ensuring that the lost are neither forgotten nor erased from the collective imagination.
"Polymer clay lets me capture every delicate feather in detail."
Research, not clay, begins her process. To bring each species to life, Wong first undertakes extensive study of the bird, what it ate, and the plants that formed part of its habitat. These plants prove as rare as the birds themselves, for most Hawaiian honeycreepers evolved specialized beaks for feeding on particular flowers, and both bird and bloom are now extraordinarily scarce, with only a few specimens surviving anywhere in the world. This meticulous groundwork ensures that every sculpture is not merely beautiful but accurate, a faithful reconstruction rooted in the ecology and history of the creature it seeks to honor.
Mamo With Yellow Oha Wai | Mixed Media
NFS
14 in x 9 in
The Mamo was a Hawaiian honeycreeper with a curved beak to feed on the nectar of Hawaiian flowers such as the Oha Wai, a very rare Hawaiian flower. The Mamo's yellow feathers were used in the capes of Hawaiian royalty.
Materials set her work apart from tradition. While most bird sculptures are carved from wood, Wong builds hers from polymer clay, achieving a lifelike quality unlike any other kind of bird sculpture. The research and sculpting of the birds' fine feathers can take several weeks, after which each piece is painted with acrylics. The delicate Hawaiian flowers and plants that surround her birds demand equal care, and for these she turns to air dry clay, whose own flexibility allows for remarkably lifelike detail before being painted. This union of polymer and air dry clay gives her sculptures an organic presence unlike any other.
The O'ahu 'ō'ō was a honeycreeper that only lived on the island of Oahu. It lived high in the Ko'olau Mountains of Oahu. The 'ō'ō perches on a native Hawaiian Koa tree branch.
Oʻahu ʻōʻō | Mixed Media
NFS
12 in x 15 in
In every piece, Wong unites scientific rigor with artistic tenderness, and conservation with commemoration. Her work asks the viewer to look closely at creatures the world is on the verge of losing, and to care about their survival. Whether restoring a vanished species to vivid three-dimensional life or celebrating one that still endures, she gives these birds a permanence that nature has denied them. In doing so, Wong offers more than art; she offers remembrance, advocacy, and hope, a lasting testament to the extraordinary and imperiled beauty of the birds of Hawaii, made to be seen, valued, and protected by the wider world.
Hawaiian Gallinule | Collage
NFS
9 in x 14 in
The Hawaiian Gallinule is a rare waterbird that lives only in the marshes on Kauai and Oahu. Legend says Maui, the Hawaiian demigod, captured the bird to force it to give up the secret of fire. It initially refused, so Maui burned its forehead until it gave up the secret. The bird's forehead turned bright red, so its name in Hawaiian is 'Alae 'Ula, or "burnt forehead."
"For me, each bird begins with weeks of careful study."
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