Chris Hutch

Bloodlines, is a work created in honour of Chris’ grandmother who first taught her to embroider more than six decades ago. 

By appropriating a linen tray cloth from Chris’ grandmother’s era and reworking it, the work Bloodlines was born. It was initially created as a task to fill the time during the enforced isolation period of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Bloodlines became a pastime to occupy the hands, whilst the mind wandered. Marking tracks and trails across the cloth with needle and thread, emerging as bloodlines, perhaps linking the lineage of women who have passed on their knowledge through embroidery. 

Chris Hutch lives in Sydney, she has an eclectic creative practice and has been making works by hand for twenty years. With a professional background in Science and Maths teaching, Chris’ methodical passions are reflected in her creative practice.

Initially inspired by geometry and the precision of patchwork and quilting, she followed on to the alchemy of printmaking. Chris has always been fascinated by the botanical world, preferring to work with plants in basketry, natural dyeing and hand papermaking. She is intrigued by the physics of colour and the chemistry of plant dyes.

 Image: Chris Hutch, Bloodlines, 2020 Photo: Nicole Robins