Episodes

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 feedba...

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 cultu...

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 fro...

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 audioboo...

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 Needle...

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 embroider...

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 Leonard...

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 inspiratio...

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 platform...

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 pressure ...

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 prac...

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 T...

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 d...

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 panels...

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 t...

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 t...

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 an...

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 + embroide...

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 st...

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” langu...