About
Rachel Hutchinson creates sculptural furniture that sits between contemporary craft and collectible design, exploring the relationship between natural growth and constructed geometry in wood.
Working primarily with solid timber and constructional veneers, her practice moves between two parallel strands. One develops furniture through processes such as lamination, steam bending and digital modelling, producing forms that emerge from engineered structure.
Alongside this, she creates sculptural works from naturally fallen oak limbs, allowing the growth patterns of the tree to guide the composition. Smaller-scale objects extend this enquiry, exploring surface, repetition and concentric form through carved oak. Across the work, an interest in structure, curvature and material intelligence connects the pieces, combining traditional craft knowledge with contemporary design processes.
Her work has been exhibited widely across the UK and recognised by leading craft organisations.
Sweeping and concentric geometries translate landscape, growth and contour into objects that function simultaneously as seating and sculpture.
Across the practice runs a dialogue between hand and machine. Digital modelling and scanning are used to explore structural possibilities and test form, while the final pieces are shaped and refined by hand.
This combination of digital design tools and traditional making allows Hutchinson to investigate how wooden structure can support the body directly, replacing the need for upholstery.
Digital models are translated through making, where form is tested, refined and resolved in wood.
Background
Rachel Hutchinson established her studio in 1995 following her studies in furniture design and making. Her work has been recognised with multiple Guild Marks from the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers and a Crafts Council Setting Up Grant.
She has exhibited widely in the UK, including 100% Design, Chelsea Crafts Fair, London Design Festival and Fresh Air Sculpture Show. Her work has been featured in publications including the Financial Times and The Sunday Telegraph.
Hutchinson lives and works in Wiltshire, where she continues to develop research-led furniture and sculptural work exploring the relationship between material, structure and the body.
Teaching
Alongside her studio practice, Hutchinson teaches design and making across a range of contexts, from primary education to undergraduate furniture design. Teaching forms a parallel strand of her work, allowing ideas around material, structure and digital fabrication to be explored across different scales of learning.
