Kip Perdue

Kip Perdue is a Chicago-born paper artist, currently based in south London, known for his handcut paper maps. Kip works from a small desk in his one-bedroom flat, its confines help him capture the essence of his work.

He shares, “It is no surprise, given my small space, that some of my work explores this. Cutting paper maps is a way to explore how we structure our cities and towns and neighbourhoods within the confines of what people before us did. Those roads give rise to houses and flats and yards for some and not for others. When a map is stripped of its street names, it’s surprisingly hard for people to interpret what they see, so they become interested in the shapes. Why that weird gap? What road is this and why does it end there? Everything is so dense! Is that my street?”

Recently, Kip’s work has incorporated thread and embroidery, but he always works with paper due to its simultaneous strength and fragility.

Kip has exhibited throughout London and in online publications. Prior to the pandemic, Kip also taught paper cutting in London.