Mique – ‘Paper Cuts’

14/05/26 till 20/05/26

Paper Cuts is Mique’s first solo exhibition, comprising a small survey that brings together homoerotic collage works, portraits, and landmark images from Margate and Thanet that he created while living in the UK. It explores his relationship with Thanet, where he’s lived since 2011, his personal development and ‘cut-out‘ with self-censorship through homoerotic pieces, portraits, and other works that simply exist on their own terms. His work is primarily collage-based, using cut coloured magazine paper instead of paint to create mosaic-style images through slow processes of selection, cutting, and layering.

Mique (Michel Cubillos, b. 1981, Santiago de Chile), is a mixed-media Latin American artist based in Margate and living in Thanet since 2011. His practice is centred primarily on the creation of mosaic-style collage and Papier-mâché figures.

He graduated from Universidad Tecnológica de Chile in 2010, with a Languages and Humanities BA, specialising in teaching English as a foreign language. He moved to the UK in 2011 after working as a Spanish language assistant in Reading (2009-2010), sponsored by the British Council. He has worked mainly as a teacher of Spanish and more recently in the care sector where he provides person-centered support for people with autism, hearing loss and additional needs in their own homes.

His creative process explores freedom of expression in queer identity, subverting self-censorship while examining relationships between people, nature, and shared spaces, evolving from simply using technical skill to create visually appealing works, into using collage as a way to cut out his own boundaries. He explores homoeroticism as a theme that brings his authentic self into focus, expressing his sexuality while marking a break from self-censorship, shame, and judgement.

Private View

Fri 15th May 2026