NeedleXChange

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Prisma Andrade, a Chicago-based fiber and textile artist and recent School of the Art Institute of Chicago graduate whose work turns her family's archive into material and asks what makes something sacred.

Prisma builds her pieces from spinning, jacquard weaving, dye painting and quilting, treating process as a way to make everyday objects sacred.

In Part 2 we trace her path from an arts-magnet high school in Dallas to SAIC, her move from painting into fiber, digital jacquard weaving with laser-cut dyed frames, dye painting and quilting that reads like stained glass, her earlier bodily work, and a quickfire on Sing Street and Magdalena Bay.

Links:

Instagram: prismacolorhell

Intro music is New Car Smell by Baegel via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNewsmrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Prisma Andrade, a Chicago-based fiber and textile artist and recent School of the Art Institute of Chicago graduate whose work turns her family's archive into material and asks what makes something sacred.

Prisma recreates artworks and photographs from her family, past and present, using weaving, quilting and dye to disrupt the border between painting and textile.

In Part 1 we get into sanctity and what becomes sacred, how framing tells us to pay attention, her family's migration between Honduras, Spain and the United States, nostalgia and inherited memory, the gender hierarchy inside the family archive, and why textiles are the things that survive the chopping block.

Links:

Instagram: prismacolorhell

Intro music is New Car Smell by Baegel via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNewsmrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com

This is Part 2 of my conversation with mixed-media artist Margot Peer.

We open with her breakout piece, "Cross Stitch of Me Crying in My Bathroom When I Was 16," scaled up to a three-foot-by-four-foot, full-body stitching experience in yarn, and the accidental "glitch" of cascading threads that became part of her style.

Margot talks candidly about what it means to sit and stitch your own crying face, the difference between documenting a real cry and performing one, and the low-resolution "loophole" that let a nude piece slip past Instagram.

We also cover animating cross stitch (a six-month stitched video), glow-in-the-dark experiments, needlework's fraught status as fine art at RISD, and a quickfire run through Bladee, Jamie XX, Empire of AI and Where the Wild Things Are.

Links:

Website: margotpeer.com

Instagram: margot.peer

Intro music is New Car Smell by Baegel via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNews

mrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com

In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Masey Kaplan, founder of the Loose Ends project, a global community that matches volunteer textile finishers with projects left unfinished by death, illness or disability.

Masey launched Loose Ends with a friend after finishing a sweater for a grieving friend; four years on, nearly 40,000 finishers across 83 countries complete everything from quilts to woodworking and return it to the families.

We get into the meditative pull of handwork, kindness between strangers across every divide, the little stitch that marks where one crafter's hands stopped and another's began, and why Masey is building Loose Ends to outlive her.

Links:

Website: looseends.org

Instagram: thelooseendsproject

Intro music is New Car Smell by Baegel via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNewsmrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com

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 pattern as its own language, why she feels like she is "cheating" with a pattern converter, and how a 1930s typewriter-art movement pulled her into breaking the grid.

Links:

Website: margotpeer.com

Instagram: margot.peer

Intro music is New Car Smell by Baegel via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNews

mrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com

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 and nature, the pleasure she gets from teaching, and how her work is much like darning.

Timestamps:

00:00:15 - Start

00:03:30 - How her artistic journey began

00:07:15 - How Meredith’s technique is like darning

00:12:00 - Her involvement in scientific realms

00:21:00 - The 100 Embroideries Project

00:24:10 - How Meredith juggles art/life/children

00:27:00 - Meredith’s toolset

00:32:00 - Teaching embroidery online

00:42:00 - Favourite Band

00:43:00 - Favourite Podcast

00:45:30 - Favourite Film

00:46:15 - Favourite Book

00:48:00 - Interesting fact that no one knows about Meredith Woolnough

Links:

Website: meredithwoolnough.com.au

Instagram: meredithwoolnough

Intro music is Let's Go Find The Sun by Sarah the Illstrumentalist via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNews

mrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com

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 important part of his work. Oh, and he confesses a secret that you'll want to listen to the end for!

If you like machine embroidery, then be sure to check out Julie Heaton's episode.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:02:00 - The Formulaic Nature of Cartoons

00:03:06 - Open-Ended Narratives in Art

00:05:09 - The Impact of Chicago on Artistic Expression

00:13:45 - The Importance of Titles in Art

00:20:03 - Reflections on Furniture and Emotional Spaces

00:24:45 - Peter’s Favourite Band

00:31:09 - Peter’s Favourite Films

00:37:46 - Literary Preferences and Influential Books

00:43:15 - A fact (or two) that not many people know about Peter Frederiksen

Links:

Website: pefrederiksen.com

Instagram: pefrederiksen

Intro music is 222 by Sarah the Illstrumentalist via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNews

mrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com

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 he shines a light on a culture we take for granted.

If you like machine embroidery, then be sure to check out Julie Heaton's episode.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:02:00 - Exploring Motion and Action in Art

00:07:59 - The Evolution of Peter's Artistic Style

00:10:58 - The Journey into Stitching and Embroidery

00:13:58 - Early Experiences and Influences in Art

00:17:08 - The Shift to Machine Embroidery

00:19:55 - Themes of Violence and Nostalgia in Animation

00:34:34 - Exploring the Humour in Classic Cartoons

00:38:12 - The Evolution of Animation Styles

Links:

Website: pefrederiksen.com

Instagram: pefrederiksen

Intro music is 222 by Sarah the Illstrumentalist via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNews

mrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com

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 evolving relationship with embroidery as a medium. From homemade Halloween costumes to thread-based storytelling, Stephanie shares how her domestic life and artistic journey are deeply intertwined.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:08:30 – Exploring Storytelling Through Art

00:11:45 – The Journey into 3D Embroidery

00:15:43 – Nature as Inspiration: The Life Cycle in Art

00:20:02 – The Intersection of Art and Music

00:26:31 – Nostalgia and Personal Connections in Film

00:31:06 – Comedy: A Reflection of Life and Art

00:35:51 – The Challenge of Reading and Learning

00:37:49 – Unexpected Talents and Personal Stories

Links:

Website: stephaniekclark

Instagram: artiststephaniekellyclark

Intro music is Sunset by OTE via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNews

mrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com

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 evolving relationship with embroidery as a medium. From homemade Halloween costumes to thread-based storytelling, Stephanie shares how her domestic life and artistic journey are deeply intertwined.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:29 – Life as Art: Parenting and Creativity

00:10:25 – Artistic Process: From Painting to Embroidery

00:13:34 – The Evolution of an Artist: Finding One's Voice

00:16:18 – Contemporary Art vs. Craft: Defining the Medium

00:19:27 – Conceptualising Art: The Role of Medium in Storytelling

00:22:39 – The Journey of an Artist: Embracing Change and Growth

00:25:42 – Creating with Intention: The Importance of Composition

Links:

Website: stephaniekclark

Instagram: artiststephaniekellyclark

Intro music is Sunset by OTE via Epidemic Sound.

About NeedleXChange

An artist interview podcast exploring contemporary embroidery and textile art. Hosted by Jamie "Mr X Stitch" Chalmers.

Stay Connected

needl.exchange | Newsletter: bit.ly/NeedleXChangeNews

mrxstitch.com | xstitchmag.com