Artist's Elaborate Paper Cut Art Emerges From Nature and Myth

The versatility of paper is well-known in sustainability circles. After all, not only can paper be made into a wide variety of useful, earth-friendly, and biodegradable products, it can also be used to construct beautiful and sturdy buildings.

Of course, paper can also be used to make paper art, as seen in these incredible paper-cut pieces by artist Pippa Dyrlaga. Based out of Yorkshire, England, Dyrlaga has been carefully crafting paper cuts since 2010, in addition to working as a printmaker.

Much of Dyrlaga's childhood was spent in rural Yorkshire, where her family lived in a canal boat. Those days of youth spent closely connected to nature are a huge factor driving her art, she says:

"Living in a rural place near the waterways, surrounded by the best of British wildlife, has inspired much of my work. My work subjects are fairly eclectic, but I take a lot of inspiration from nature, memories, folklore and myth, and pattern."

Dyrlaga's work often features plants and animals, and the distinct patterns that one might see on leaves, flowers, roots, scales, fur, and wings—except that they are reinterpreted in a new and refreshing way.

In particular, Dyrlaga says she is often drawn to creative potential of paper and its ubiquity:

"The simplicity of a blank sheet of paper appeals to me. Paper is used in so many aspects of our lives and used to communicate with each other, and I want to do this through my work. There is nothing as ordinary as a blank sheet of paper, but it has so many possibilities and can be turned into something beautiful or meaningful, without adding anything to it."

Dyrlaga says her art pieces often begin with a simple hand-drawn sketch on the underside of the paper, which is then gradually and meticulously cut out bit by bit with a razor-sharp scalpel. This process can take anywhere from four to 300 hours to complete, depending on the amount of detail. But as Dyrlaga points out, the final result is not necessarily an end in itself:

"The process is a big part of a finished piece for me, rather than it just being about the end result, the calm rhythm of it feels quite like meditation."

Often, Dyrlaga's work is flat and monochromatic, but sometimes, she adds dimension and color. For example, to create a bit of depth, this piece of a honeybee has a background of yellow paper behind it.

Other works feature paper-cut creatures that have bursts of color, brushed carefully with acrylic paints.

Other pieces will have these gorgeous, wispy touches of torn paper, which are made out of Japanese washi paper, which is a tougher paper than wood pulp-based paper. Washi paper is traditionally made out of fibers from the inner bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (Edgeworthia chrysantha), or the paper mulberry (kōzo) bush.

With washi paper, Dyrlaga can create cloud-like effects among the organic lace-like patterns ...

... or create images of these improbable but compelling characters: a robot called "Arber" who is tending to the plants (and named after the famous botanist Agnes Arber).

There is also the life-giving "Garden Spirit" himself, seen here sleeping underground as a crown of leaves and flowers rise out of his head.

The patternings seen in Dyrlaga's work aren't necessarily realistic; instead, they purposefully combine plant, animal, and folkloric elements to convey a dreamlike aesthetic that suggests the inherent interconnectedness of all living things, including the living continuity of the myths we tell ourselves.

Ultimately, in creating these nature-inspired works that honor the role of nature in our collective imagination, Dyrlaga believes art and artists have a role to play in changing the tide in the widespread environmental crisis we now face:

I think artists can play a big part in the conversation surrounding climate change. Through conveying a message to bringing topics to the discussion table, we can create something real and visual, that people can connect with emotionally and relate to. Not just in a message we are trying to convey with our work, but in the materials we use too and the things we create, we can also play our own part in smaller ways. 

To see more, visit Pippa Dyrlaga and Instagram.