Episodes

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Shea Wilkinson, a contemporary embroidery and textile art artist known for turning big questions into fibre work - from the cosmic to the microscopic. Shea’s practice moves between felt backgrounds, needle felting, hand embroidery, beading, and a research-led obsession with things like crystals, geometry, and the mystery of what we can’t quite explain. Links: Website: sheawilkinson.com Intro music is Martyr by Nevin via Epidemic Sound. About Needl...

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Charlotte Wood, a mixed media artist known for exploring the beauty in ugliness through character-led, emotionally resonant work. Charlotte trained through an MA in embroidery and works across hand, machine, and sculptural textile approaches - with a deep curiosity for how craft and experimentation collide. We go deep on her making: learning the rules before breaking them, moving from perfectionism towards controlled chaos, what commercial embroide...

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Charlotte Wood, a mixed media artist known for exploring the beauty in ugliness through character-led, emotionally resonant work. Charlotte’s recent practice includes a standout 3D textile sculpture, “the man on the chair”, alongside layered narrative pieces where colour, form, and surface stitch carry memory and mood. We talk about her Hand & Lock journey, how she uses characters to hold sadness and introspection without losing joy, and the Leonar...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Jessica Pile and Robert Ossant. Jessica Pile and Robert Ossant are researchers and authors focused on couture embroidery, combining technical analysis with historical and creative context to better understand how and why these works are made. In this second half of the conversation, we move beyond the garments themselves into the wider landscape of fashion. Topics include the economics of clothing, sustainability, and the tension between high fashion...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Jessica Pile and Robert Ossant. Jessica Pile and Robert Ossant are researchers and authors focused on couture embroidery, combining technical analysis with historical and creative context to better understand how and why these works are made. In this conversation, we explore their approach to breaking down couture garments - examining not just the stitches, but the ideas behind them. The discussion moves through fashion history, the role of inspirat...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Helen Adams. Helen is the Textile Curator who has been shining a light on contemporary textile art on her terrific blog since 2014. Her fantastic book, Textile Fine Art was published in September 2025. In this second part of our XChange, Helen shares how she became the Textile Curator. We talk about starting a website to “wake up the world”, what it’s like building something as a team of one, and the practical realities of monetising a niche platfor...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Helen Adams. Helen is the Textile Curator who has been shining a light on contemporary textile art on her terrific blog since 2014. Her fantastic book, Textile Fine Art was published in September 2025. In this first part of our chat we talk about making a textile art book that lasts longer than algorithms, how you choose artists when everyone is good, and what kinds of work genuinely “buzz your buttons”. We also get into exhibitions and the pressur...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Iskren Lozanov. Iskren Lozanov is an embroidery artist living in Ibiza, originally from Bulgaria. He came third in the 3d Textiles category of The 2025 Mr X Stitch Contemporary Needlework Prize and 2nd in the Open Textile Art category in the 2024 Hand & Lock Prize. We pick up with what’s next for Iskren Lozanov’s practice, including using everyday objects, collaboration hopes, and how this technique can be applied to almost anything. We also get pra...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Iskren Lozanov. Iskren Lozanov is an embroidery artist living in Ibiza, originally from Bulgaria. He came third in the 3d Textiles category of The 2025 Mr X Stitch Contemporary Needlework Prize and 2nd in the Open Textile Art category in the 2024 Hand & Lock Prize. We talk about language and identity, Ibiza as a place to make work, and how Iskren Lozanov’s practice moved from fashion into embroidery and sculptural pieces like “Rebirth” and “Veil of ...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Katarina Orolinov. Katarina is a Slovakian contemporary embroidery and textile art artist known for laser-cut perspex panels built from lace and geometric pattern logic. Katarina shares early making (drawing, sewing, textiles clubs) and a schooling route that builds serious technical range (embroidery, bobbin lace, weaving). We dig into heritage vs experimentation, studio life, what plays in the background while stitching, and the closing line: the ...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Katarina Orolinov. Katarina is a Slovakian contemporary embroidery and textile art artist known for laser-cut perspex panels built from lace and geometric pattern logic. Katarina traces the work from a bobbin‑lace brief into bitmap squares, then laser cutting/engraving perspex and stitching into it. We talk architecture as a pattern engine (glass blocks, safety glass, reflection), and the practical reality of scale: thousands of holes, modular panel...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Charlie Reeder aka Stitchsperation. Charlie is a cross stitch designer with an unashamedly joyful aesthetic. In this first part of our NeedleXChange, we talk imposter syndrome, naming the inner critic (“Brenda”), and how stitching can be a safe, meditative place to build confidence. Charlie shares ideas around stitched affirmations and repetition, plus the beginnings of Stitchsperation: bold typographic work, painted backgrounds, and designing what...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Charlie Reeder aka Stitchsperation. Charlie is a cross stitch designer with an unashamedly joyful aesthetic. In this first part of our NeedleXChange, we talk imposter syndrome, naming the inner critic (“Brenda”), and how stitching can be a safe, meditative place to build confidence. Charlie shares ideas around stitched affirmations and repetition, plus the beginnings of Stitchsperation: bold typographic work, painted backgrounds, and designing what...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Ruth O'Leary. Ruth O'Leary is an award-winning embroiderer who’s been exploring AI image generation as a tool for design, iteration, and self-expression. In part two, we move from the big AI conversation into the grounded maker reality: how Ruth learned needlework, what the Embroiderers’ Guild taught her, and why community still matters even in an online world. Ruth also breaks down their process — using AI outputs as reference material, collaging ...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Ruth O'Leary. Ruth O'Leary is an award-winning embroiderer who’s been exploring AI image generation as a tool for design, iteration, and self-expression. We talk about AI as a “new medium” (and the early chaotic phase of it), parallels with the Jacquard loom and past industrial shifts, the difference between screen-based fakery and physical needlework, and how Ruth uses AI outputs as reference material that gets reimagined through applique + embroid...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Robert John Hodge. Robert John Hodge makes cross-stitch work based on Renaissance sculptures, using a CMYK / screenprint-style layering approach and recurring Wingdings symbols. In this half we jump into Robert’s newer series - smaller, quicker pieces that work like little stitched collages: videogames, screenshots, photos, culture… and, for reasons we absolutely get into, a whole run of nuclear weapons tests. Part 2 is where we widen out into the ...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Robert John Hodge. Robert John Hodge makes cross-stitch work based on Renaissance sculptures, using a CMYK / screenprint-style layering approach and recurring Wingdings symbols. We talk about being a finalist in the Hand & Lock Embroidery Prize, how the work is technically constructed (layer splitting, tonal shifts, letting the fabric show through to speed stitching), and the bigger ideas underneath it: art vs craft, nostalgia, digital “glitch” lang...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Martha Hussey. We talk fresh off the heels of Martha’s solo show in London and discuss DIY curation as well as Royal Academy highs and near-misses, Martha talks textiles’ growing place in contemporary art and why she’s already sketching the next body of work. We also hit the soundtracks, the films, the books, and the beauty in the mundane that fuels her studio. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:01:30 - The Challenges of Curating an Exhibition ...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Martha Hussey. Martha trained in fine art at St Martin’s and later dove into an art-therapy diploma during lockdown, discovering how stitch can quiet the mind and surface truth. In this first half we get into the meditative mechanics of embroidery, why the back of the work matters as much as the front, and how humour and the “Sexy Stitch” series emerged alongside tufted wall pieces and hairy latch-hook portraits. We also trace the evolution from pain...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Loren Batt. Loren is an American-born artist who’s made France home for decades. In this first half, we trace her path from linguistics and art history into printmaking, then the leap into layered, tapestry-like paintings and quilted figures inspired by guild traditions, street life in New York, and medieval folk energy. In Part 2 we dive into Loren’s themed series: ex-voto boxes - small wishes hung en masse, guardian angels that gently hold everyda...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Loren Batt. Loren is an American-born artist who’s made France home for decades. In this first half, we trace her path from linguistics and art history into printmaking, then the leap into layered, tapestry-like paintings and quilted figures inspired by guild traditions, street life in New York, and medieval folk energy. We talk bilingual identity, raising globally mobile kids, and the moment canvas stopped being “invisible” support and became livin...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Chloe Savage. Chloe is a conservation embroiderer, couture specialist, and educator whose studio practice spans everything from National Trust restorations to hands-on needlepoint kits. In this second half of our conversation, we trace Chloe's creative upbringing through diamond mines, Paris couture, and the Royal School of Needlework. She unpacks how life detours—from teen motherhood to science teaching—ultimately fueled her practice and how art b...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Chloe Savage. Chloe is a conservation embroiderer, couture specialist, and educator whose studio practice spans everything from National Trust restorations to hands-on needlepoint kits. In this first part of our conversation, we dive into the power of shared studio spaces, the value of peer critique, and how Chloe has built a collaborative practice that's both rigorous and restorative. My recent NeedleXChanges with Kirstie McLeod, founder of the Re...

In this episode of NeedleXChange I interview Severina Seidl. Severina is a German embroidery artist whose work blurs the line between thread, paint, and narrative abstraction. In this second half, Severina shares her ambitions in fashion embroidery, reflects on the push-pull between creativity and career, and gets candid about what it means to pursue art without a roadmap. Plus, we get her picks on books, music, and life growing up without TV. For another artist making mixed media with a hint...