"They see it as a weakness," says Rob Ryan.

"The school of thought is that a painting is a painting and it shouldn't need words to prop it up."

Rob's paper cuts are certainly strong enough to stand on their own and some of them do just that, but his addition of poignant, funny and sometimes cheeky little phrases are the flourish
that elicit that extra bit
of emotion.

Take one of his latest – the little bird sitting in a tree is beautiful but the words: "You can still do a lot with a small brain" turns your smile into a full-blown chuckle.

Another picture says "no minute gone comes ever back again", which makes you think a little more deeply about the image it supports.

The works starts with a pencil drawing, and then every tiny detail of the illustration is cut out with a scalpel and sprayed with colour. Specially commissioned paper cuts sell for for upwards of £1,000, though prints are less expensive.

Rob's work can be seen at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park this winter in an exhibition opened this week by one of his biggest fans – the designer Paul Smith.

His decorated vinyl panels now adorn the windows in the visitor centre and framed one-off paper cuts and limited edition screen prints, exclusive to YSP, will also be on display and on sale.

For those on a small budget, Rob has created an exclusive laser-cut, limited edition Christmas card for £10, which is very frameable.

He also has a range of tiles £24 each, mugs £13.95 and cushions £60 and decorative wooden keys £24 for those who have been captivated by the whimsical, fairytale aspect of his paper cuts that were born six years ago.

"After university I concentrated on drawing, painting and screen
printing, but I often included language.

"The paper cutting started as a way of making things more simple," says London-based Rob, who studied fine art at Nottingham Trent University

"It's a discipline that reduces your work to shape and shape alone and its constraints inspired me more. I enjoyed the challenge."

He also felt it might be a way of shutting out the words that always invaded his work, but then he discovered a way round the obstacles.

"I thought if I did paper cuts that are folded and symmetrical then I couldn't write on them," he says.

"Any words when you open them out would be back to front and ridiculous."

But he stopped folding pages, so while they look symmetrical, they're not.

"I like using words in my work and now the boundaries of fine art and graphics are blurring and moving closer together,"
he says.

"People value them as an aesthetic thing.

"The Keep Calm and Carry on Poster is a good example. People have taken that, framed it and put it over their mantlepiece."

He has illustrated book and album covers, including John Connolly's novel The Book of Lost Things and Erasure's album Nightbird.

But after Hodder & Stoughton published his children's book about love and loneliness This is For You told through paper cut-outs, he has been inspired to do another, which is working
on now.

"There will be words in it too. I enjoy working words but I'm not a writer. I just try to use words to say some simple things."

Rob Ryan's work can be seen at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park until Feb 21. For more information log on to www.ysp.co.uk