Kate Hipkiss OAS, OCG – portfolio
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Artist information
I have worked with paper for over 15 years and enjoy exploring the possibilities of working with it as a material. My work is all cut by hand with a scalpel to create layered images of subjects from landscapes to iconic architecture. I have lived and worked in Oxford for much of my life and the city provides a rich source of inspiration for many of my papercuts!
In my colour work I use subtly textured, acid-free paper with a high cotton content and enjoy using the limited colour palette available to simplify and flatten out forms and tones. Conversely, my architectural Miniscapes are made using acid-free, smooth Bristol board paper from which I can cut crisp, clean lines, and use shadows to create the depth and definition.
The challenge of creating an engaging image from multiple layers is a constant fascination for me; fewer layers results in an image more like an illustration or reduction linocut, while increasing the number of layers produces a more complex, painterly image. I love the simplicity of working with paper and our familiarity with it; we all have an innate understanding of its uses and I enjoy presenting it in a different context.
This is also pivotal in my work with paper maps, where I remove all but the barest information, exploring our sense of place and the way in which we interpret information on the page. In a series of altered books I create 3-dimensional forms from the pages and cut redacted poetry from the words. The words lead the viewer around and through the form, creating new stories from the original text and addressing the rules of the page, language and my own practice.
More recent work with the handwritten word—meticulously cutting old letters from paper—not only examines my personal family history but also our move away from handwriting as an engaged form of communication towards a more immediate, transitory, digital communication. Married with the central focus of my practice—paper—this raises questions of longevity, significance, materiality and impermanence.
I graduated from Camberwell College of Arts with a degree in Visual Arts in 2003, followed by a PGCE in Secondary Art and Design. I have since taught Art in Secondary Schools followed by a decade as a Gallery Manager before focusing more fully on my own artwork. In 2020 I completed a MFA at Oxford Brookes University and am currently studying for a Fine Art PhD by Practice.
I am a member of the Oxford Art Society, Paper Artist Collective and Modern Makers Collective.
Kate Hipkiss OAS, OCG
