Narrative embroidery

In 2007, the Museum of Arts & Design in New York City embarked on a series of exhibits examining ways in which contemporary artists are reinventing the age-old techniques and styles of traditional handcrafts.

When You Return

Immersed in dreamlike surroundings, figures interact with nature and participate in enigmatic rituals in embroideries by Michelle Kingdom (previously). The Los Angeles-based artist continues to explore what she describes as “psychological landscapes,” portraying a diverse range of figures in ambiguous activities and settings that are intricately composed from thread. Drawing on the rich traditions of needlework, she takes a more freeform approach to the medium in which stitching becomes a…

Hand embroidered textile art

Adriana Torres / #whimsy #stitchery (detail)

Limitless. That’s how so many artists describe the creative medium of textiles. Time and time again they explain that the possibilities are never-ending, and

Agnes Richter’s Blouse on display in Heidelberg Germany Agnes Richter was a German seamstress held as a patient in an insane asylum during the 1890s. During her time there, she …

Sophia Narrett’s embroideries require you to look more than once; in fact, they will make you stop and stare. With their minute details and beautiful intricacies, they push sewing to the extreme. We question how it is humanly possible to create such miniature, elaborate scenes. “Embroidered images are immediately intimate and visually tactile”, Sophia explains. “The pace that embroidery dictates has become a meaningful way for me to commit to images, feelings and ideas”. The artist spends…

Every time Iviva Olenik posts new work, I want to drop everything and start stitching. Her needlework is covetable in its own right, and it provokes a headful of ideas for adaptation. Just look at …