Asia Art Center is pleased to present Her Studio, the first solo exhibition in Taiwan by British artist Florence Hutchings. Renowned for her expressive painterly language, dynamic colour palette, and idiosyncratic yet lyrical explorations of domestic interiors, Hutchings unveils a new body of work that is both formally distinctive and conceptually progressive.
Hutchings' practice is deeply shaped by the principles of collage, rooted in the early twentieth-century technique of papier collé, pioneered by Georges Braque (1882–1963) and Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). Her assertive brushwork recalls Gillian Ayres (1930–2018)'s vibrantly coloured abstract paintings, while her intimate portrayals of domestic spaces resonate with the pictorial sensibilities of Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947). Hutchings' compositions operate as visual diaries of quotidian life—fragments of routine and the seemingly banal—yet her sophisticated use of colour and organic textures blur the boundaries between still life and abstraction, two historically significant genres in the history of Western art.
An unexpected reference point in the exhibition emerges through The Observer's Book of Furniture [1], part of the iconic The Observer's Collection series published between 1937 and 2003, encompassing one hundred volumes ranging from British Birds and Weather to Cricket and Opera. In her work Musical Chairs, Hutchings assembles a constellation of chairs representing stylistic lineages from the Stuart period through to the Victorian era. While the title evokes a familiar children's game, it simultaneously serves as a metaphor for the precarities of contemporary existence—a reflection on the competition for limited resources in modern society, where agency is often undermined by larger, uncontrollable forces. Six chairs in various styles encircle a Georgian table, conjuring an anthropomorphic tableau suggestive of a formal meeting—eerily familiar and quietly satirical.
Throughout Her Studio, a consistent visual lexicon emerges—Naples yellow, muted blues, and nuanced shades of pink weave a cohesive, if enigmatic, narrative. In Artist in Studio I and Artist in Studio II, Hutchings introduces the human figure into her compositions for the first time. As with Musical Chairs, these figures verge on the anthropomorphic, merging seamlessly with antique furnishings. In Artist in Studio II, the figure's legs subtly transform into a Doric column, inviting architectural readings and underscoring the painting's sculptural quality.
Her Studio presents Hutchings' work across diverse media and scales—from intimate works on paper and still life paintings that evoke the meticulous craftsmanship of seventeenth-century Dutch art, to complex double-panel compositions that foreground the artist's rigorous engagement with the history of furniture, her technical prowess, and her distinctive narrative voice. This exhibition aspires to reconstruct an evocative scene from the artist's studio, offering viewers an immersive encounter with Hutchings' creative world.
Florence Hutchings
Born in Kent, UK in 1996, Florence Hutchings graduated with a first class-honours from The Slade School of Fine Art in London in 2019, where she was awarded the Lynn Painter-Stainers Scholarship during her studies. Hutchings has exhibited world-wide, including solo shows in Seoul and London, residencies in Los Angeles, group shows in Germany, Finland, Taiwan and China. There has also been a recent collaboration with Selfridges London and Frieze where her work has been displayed in Selfridges VIP Lounge from October 2024 - April 2025. Hutchings has work in the collection of Charles Saatchi who exhibited eight large scale paintings in an exhibition titled Kaleidoscope. The paintings from that show remain part of Charles Saatchi's collection. After living and painting in London for seven years, Hutchings now lives and works in Margate, a sea-side town in Kent that holds a vibrant art scene where all of these works in Her Studio have been made in her home studio. Her Studio is Hutchings' first solo exhibition with Asia Art Center.
