Episodes

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Margot Peer, a mixed-media artist and Rhode Island School of Design painting major whose hyperrealistic cross-stitches turn deeply personal photographs into universally resonant images. In Part 1 we get into her love of glitches, malfunctions and failing technology, how painting became the "trunk" that everything else grows out of, and the first cross stitch that started it all (an Aphex Twin album cover). Margot explains why she treats each stitch ...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #8. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Meredith Woolnough. Meredith Woolnough is an Australian machine embroidery artist whose organic creations are instantly recognisable and simply stunning. Meredith’s art pieces are celebration of the beauty of nature and at the same time, a technical marvel. We talk about her passion for science an...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #64. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Peter Frederiksen. Peter Frederiksen is a Chicago-based artist whose machine embroidered cartoon vignettes are filled with tension and dark humour. In this second part of our NeedleXChange we talk about the craft of old school animation, the joys of living in Chicago and why Peter's titles are in ...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #63. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Peter Frederiksen. Peter Frederiksen is a Chicago-based artist whose machine embroidered cartoon vignettes are filled with tension and dark humour. In this first part of our NeedleXChange we talk about how this particular combination of form and content has become Peter's signature style and how h...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #87. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Stephanie Kelly Clark. Stephanie is a contemporary embroidery artist whose work transforms humble homes and everyday moments into rich visual stories stitched with painterly precision. In this first part of our conversation, we explore her creative upbringing, the role of art in parenting, and her ...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #86. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Stephanie Kelly Clark. Stephanie is a contemporary embroidery artist whose work transforms humble homes and everyday moments into rich visual stories stitched with painterly precision. In this first part of our conversation, we explore her creative upbringing, the role of art in parenting, and her ...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #[]. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Orly Cogan. Orly Cogan is a New York-based textile artist whose embroidered fabrics contain other-worldly images of modern concepts with a dream-like twist. In this second part of our NeedleXChange we discover Orly's creative process, how she explores power dynamics in her work, as well as her f...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #33. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Orly Cogan. Orly Cogan is a New York-based textile artist whose embroidered fabrics contain other-worldly images of modern concepts with a dream-like twist. In this first part of our NeedleXChange we find out how Orly came to needlework, how her work ties in with the modern art scene and we disco...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #56. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Diana Weymar. Diana Weymar is an embroidery artist and curator, and founder of the Tiny Pricks project, a collaborative needlework project that immortalises quotes from Donald Trump as a crowdsourced documentary of an unusual part of American history. Diana is the author of Crafting A Better Worl...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #55. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Diana Weymar. Diana Weymar is an embroidery artist and curator, and founder of the Tiny Pricks project, a collaborative needlework project that immortalises quotes from Donald Trump as a crowdsourced documentary of an unusual part of American history. Diana is the author of Crafting A Better Worl...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #12. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview John Thomas Paradiso. John Thomas Paradiso is a Washington-based artist who has been exploring the intimacy of gay culture through needlework for over 30 years. Using hand embroidered quilting techniques, working on surfaces including leather and suede, and using traditional materials like doili...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #11. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview John Thomas Paradiso. John Thomas Paradiso is a Washington-based artist who has been exploring the intimacy of gay culture through needlework for over 30 years. Using hand embroidered quilting techniques, working on surfaces including leather and suede, and using traditional materials like doili...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #52. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Emma McKee. Emma McKee is a Chicago-based cross stitch artist whose work is adored by hip-hop artists and basketball icons. This is the second part of our NeedleXChange and we explore Emma's relationship with Chicago, her love of her Dad, how she has evolved as a designer and we check out her cu...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #51. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Emma McKee. Emma McKee is a Chicago-based cross stitch artist whose work is adored by hip-hop artists and basketball icons. This is the first part of our NeedleXChange and we talk about how Emma came into cross stitch and the circumstances in which her work came to the attention of the hip-hop co...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #46. Danielle is an South African artist known for her vibrant and expressive embroidery work, characterised by bold colours, movement, and layering, creating a visual impact that evokes joy. She believes in the inherent goodness of people and the power of support and validation in fostering self-confidence. This is the second part of our NeedleX...

It's the school summer holidays and I'm taking a break. So instead of new chats, I'm replaying some of my old favourites! This is a repeat of episode #45. In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Danielle Clough, aka Fiancé Knowles. Danielle is an South African artist known for her vibrant and expressive embroidery work, characterised by bold colours, movement, and layering, creating a visual impact that evokes joy. She believes in the inherent goodness of people and the power of support a...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Róisín Phelan, a contemporary embroidery and textile artist who has built her practice around punch needle. Part 2 opens with practical punch needle wisdom (use the flat "wrong" side for detail, match your needle to your cloth, and keep the fabric taut), then gets into how she taught herself to embroider water and people, why she leans into a blocky, illustrative style rather than photorealism, and where her signature blue figures came from (it start...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Róisín Phelan, a contemporary embroidery and textile artist who has built her practice around punch needle. We start on common ground (a shared love of squared notebooks and to-do lists) before getting into how she creates the visual identity for the family brewery, the cafe, and the Colours coffee company, and how building a whole visual "world" means a new design comes together in an afternoon rather than a fortnight. Róisín talks candidly about be...

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Sean Alistair, a Germany-based contemporary embroidery and textile art artist known for work that mixes beauty, chaos, identity and emotional honesty. After the first chat, I realised I needed to ask Sean more directly about the work itself, so we spoke again. In this final part, we dig into Sean’s artistic practice: music as a way of naming and feeling the work, anti-war imagery, anger as creative fuel, why “pretty” can be the wrong read, how feedb...

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Sean Alistair, a Germany-based contemporary embroidery and textile art artist known for work that mixes beauty, chaos, identity and emotional honesty. In this part, we move from the studio into parenthood. Sean talks about becoming a dad, the strange way men are praised for basic childcare, how having a baby interrupts and reshapes a creative life, and the difference between Sean Alistair the artist and Sean the dad. We also spin through Sean's cult...

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Sean Alistair, a Germany-based contemporary embroidery and textile art artist known for work that mixes beauty, chaos, identity and emotional honesty. In this first part we focus on Into the Wild, the exhibition Sean curated to build community rather than simply put work on walls. We talk about diversity without tokenism, what it means to be an outsider artist, labels like queer, bipolar and textile artist, and how Sean thinks about making, destroyi...

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Renan Estivan, a São Paulo-based contemporary embroidery and textile art artist known for queer tapestries that put the male body at their centre. In this part we get into Maressia and Bataille's idea that the post-industrial body isn't allowed to rest, what slow work has taught Renan about his own queerness, why textile slips past the censors in ways photography doesn't, his current Marseille solo show L'Homme Renommé, and his cultural touchpoints....

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Renan Estivan, a São Paulo-based contemporary embroidery and textile art artist known for queer tapestries that put the male body at their centre. In Part 1 we get into his mum's Arraíolos rugs and the embroidery tradition she passed on, choosing design at UNESP over art, how the pandemic in Salvador collided with a pixel-art drawing to spark his first erotic cross stitch, his shift onto the tufting gun, and the Brazilian tapestry lineage running fr...

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Shea Wilkinson, a contemporary embroidery and textile art artist known for switching mediums to protect their balance - and chasing the next beautiful pattern. Shea talks candidly about quitting quilting “at the snap of a finger,” taking a two-year hiatus from art, and why felting became a healthier, slower practice - less addictive, less competition-driven, and more sustainable day to day. We get into process and motivation (including using audiob...