In the studio with… Florence Houston

The British painter Florence Houston is fascinated by jelly. Having trained in oil painting at Charles H. Cecil Studios, an art school in the city of Florence, Houston turned her attention to the dessert in 2021, intrigued by its long history as a food that many consider more appealing to the eyes than the stomach. In still lifes such as Gauloise and Aspic (both 2024), Houston captures the decorative qualities of moulded jellies, depicting their intricate forms in colours ranging from lime green to deep red against equally vivid backgrounds, and making their slipperiness seem both beautiful and grotesque. These are among several other confection-inspired paintings at ‘Powder Puff’, an exhibition of Houston’s recent works at Lyndsey Ingram in London (2 May–8 June).