Yorkshire-based paper cut artist Pippa Dyrlaga created a large-scale installation for York Castle Museum’s summer programme, drawing on Victorian balloon festivals and the Arts and Crafts movement, brought to life with sustainable and recycled papers from James Cropper.
James Cropper Creates is a platform for artists, makers and designers working with paper, brought to you by James Cropper — one of the UK’s last remaining specialist paper mills, based in the Lake District.
York Castle Museum’s summer activities programme asked Pippa Dyrlaga to capture something specific: the large hot air balloon festivals that filled the city during the Victorian period, coinciding with the York Summer Gala. The brief called for wonder. What Dyrlaga created was an installation that moved between two and three dimensions, between the hand-drawn and the laser cut, between the artist’s studio and the hands of the visitors who added to it.
The starting point was research into the period. Dyrlaga drew on the floral displays and the Arts and Crafts movement popular in the Victorian era, translating their patterns into designs that were first drawn and cut by hand before being digitised and produced as laser-cut three-dimensional forms. The result was a fairground world in paper: balloons setting off above tents and carousels, the whole scene rendered in the coloured sustainable ranges James Cropper supplied for the project. Those papers, made primarily from recycled materials, brought the palette of the installation to life across the range of forms Dyrlaga built.
The installation also extended into the museum’s activity sessions. Dyrlaga produced 2D hangable designs and small paper decorations that visitors decorated and added to the display, building the piece outward over the course of the season. The collaboration drew in four distinct participants: the paper company, the museum, the artist and the public.
“James Cropper are so enthusiastic about collaborating with artists in the UK, and working with them to bring their ideas to life with their incredible high quality creative papers,” Dyrlaga says.
The installation was on display at York Castle Museum from April through September 2026.
Pippa Dyrlaga is a Yorkshire-based artist working with paper as a primary medium, combining traditional paper cutting methods with digitised and laser-cut processes to create work at every scale from small hand-cut pieces to large installations. Every piece begins with a hand-drawn and hand-cut illustration. Her work has been exhibited globally.
James Cropper Creates is the creative community platform from James Cropper, one of the UK’s last remaining specialist paper mills. Based in the Lake District and operating for over 175 years, James Cropper invites artists, designers and makers to explore what is possible with paper. jamescropper.com
🌐 pippadyrlaga.com 📷 @bearfollowscat 🛍️ pippadyrlaga.com/shop
All images credit to the artist. York Castle Museum, April–September 2026. Paper supplied by James Cropper.
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