About

Anna Hutchinson, a contemporary textile and fibre artist based in county Limerick, Ireland

Anna works primarily with machine embroidery, creating pieces that move between abstraction and recognisable natural forms. Her work sits between drawing, textile, and low-relief sculpture, built through layers of thread that rise, recede, and shift with the light.

These layered surfaces cast fine, shifting shadows that become part of the work itself. Line extends beyond stitch into shadow, creating a secondary drawing that changes with angle and light. This interplay adds depth and movement, giving each piece a presence that shifts throughout the day.

Some works lean into abstraction, exploring colour, pattern, and rhythm. Others take cues from the natural world. Seaweed, plant forms, and organic structures appear, not as direct representations, but as responses to what is seen, remembered, and felt. Across both, there is a consistent focus on connection and on building surface through stitch.

Entirely self-taught, Anna has been surrounded by textiles and handwork all her life. She returned to sewing in 2012, but only in recent years claimed her identity as an artist. That shift marked a turning point, both personally and in the work itself. Her practice is rooted in experience rather than explanation. She works intuitively, following colour, tension, and form as they develop.

Every work is one of a kind and professionally finished using archival materials. Pieces are mounted and presented in custom-made shadow box frames with anti-reflective Artglass, allowing space for both the stitched surface and its shadows to be fully seen.

Artist Statement

My work explores nature, colour, rhythm, and connection through abstract and interpretative forms built in thread.

I work mainly with water-soluble stabiliser, removing the base to leave behind lace-like stitched structures. These pieces sit between drawing and low-relief sculpture, where thread becomes line, surface, and form. As the work lifts from its ground, it interacts with light, casting shadows that shift and extend the composition beyond the stitch itself.

Alongside thread, I incorporate materials such as metal leaf, paper, paint, and ink. These elements are not added for decoration, but to extend the surface and introduce contrast in texture, density, and reflection.

The work draws from memory, landscape, and lived experience. Natural forms such as seaweed and plant structures appear throughout, not as direct representations, but as responses to what is observed and felt.

Thread, for me, is a way of holding time, meaning, and feeling. Each piece marks an ongoing return to making, to attention, and to the connections that run through the work.