Maude White

Maude White, a Buffalo, NY native, is a papercutting artist living in the Hudson Valley. Raised in a family of both visual and written storytellers, Maude grew up surrounded by theater and books. Both her mother and sister are puppeteers and toymakers and her father is an editor and writer. This emphasis on storytelling, both through visual craftsmanship and written wordsmithing has shaped both her cut-paper art and her writing. [1] 

Maude White’s work has been featured in both online and print publications. Online, her work has been praised by Hi Fructose Magazine, Urban Outfitters, French Huffington Post, The Seattle Art Museum, the official Instagram, Colossal, Ignant, Women You Should Know, The San Francisco Globe and Ted Baker London among many others.

In print, her work has appeared in various newspapers and art publications including The Artist Magazine, The French lifestyle magazine As You Like, Carrier Pigeon Fine Art Magazine, Fiber Art Now Magazine, Creativ Magazine, Daphne’s Diary Magazine. White’s work has been featured as the cover art on Trouve Magazine and Artvoice, and as the centerfold in The Public.

Her work has been exhibited in New York City, throughout New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, California, New Hampshire, as well as throughout the United States in traveling exhibitions.

White has won the Margaret Mead award from the Burchfield Penney Art Center. She was previously featured in Art in Craft Media 2015.

White explains that she loves the great strength, yet delicacy of paper. Her work is done on the macro, as well as the micro level. Every cut is exact and meaningful. “I began cutting paper because I love the act of revealing, of making plain something hidden or secret…. There is a great deal of magic to be found in paper. I am constantly awed by the knowledge that paper has been telling stories for centuries – with so many people and in so many ways!” [2] White continues, “I feel that there are very few things in the world as reliable and constant as paper. Paper is everywhere and it has been telling stories for centuries.” [3]

Her process is an organic one. While she sketches a rough idea of how she would like the final cut to look, ultimately she lets the paper talk to her. She says that when she cuts paper, she feels as if the paper, the knife, and she are all “in a relationship together, a dialogue.” Each cut is final. There is no erasing; no painting over. “One knife cut can destroy an entire project. Because of this, I have to allow for the piece to take shape in its own time and way.”

[1] Maude White, “About,” bravebirdpaperart.com/about/. (Accessed 10/03/2017)

[2] “Artist of the Week: Maude White,” an interview article on Urban Outfitters blog, 03/22/2017, http://blog.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/?p=42408. (Accessed 10/03/2017)

[3] Maude White, “Artist Statement.”