Several years ago, Danielle Clough ran across a vintage copy of Playboy at an antique shop. Unbeknownst to her at the time, the 1970s-era film photography, feathered hairstyles, and iconic—if stereotypical—advertising would influence a wide array of large-scale embroidery portraits.

The Cape Town-based artist (previously) scoured the popular magazine’s pages in search of faces and settings she could translate into embroidery. Because of the source, Clough is sensitive to the fact that one might expect the imagery to be hyper-sexualized, but “when they are stripped from context, they can be beautiful and illicit wholesome reactions in their newly recalibrated, woolly world,” she says.

In her solo exhibition, Crewel Intentions, now on view at Paradigm Gallery + Studio, Clough’s characteristically vibrant fiber compositions tap into a bygone era that, in terms of time, does not seem too distant, but when measured against the technological and socio-political leaps of the past few decades, it can feel like ancient history. Through the historic technique of crewel embroidery, a form of freehand fiber work in which wool yarn is sewn onto cloth, the artist creates a raised and textured surface that can strike virtually any shape or size.

Nostalgia can have a comforting effect when the contemporary world feels overwhelming. In the 1970s, the world was still largely analog—correspondence primarily went through the mail; magazines and newspapers were printed en masse; and the internet as we know it didn’t yet exist, but there were hints (the “modern” internet would emerge in the mid-1980s).

The artist merges new materials and saturated hues with imagery and styles we often associate with an earlier age, both romanticizing and acknowledging outmoded attitudes, styles, and technologies. “Clough’s appreciation of her material and her subject allows her to start a conversation on graceful aging,” the gallery says, “celebrating outdated processes of making and the aesthetics that stand the test of time.”

The 1970s represent a way to explore generational transitions, beauty standards, societal norms, photography, and representation. Through careful cropping and lighting, Clough incorporates a cinematic effect that is most provocative in pieces like “Crewel Intentions” and “The Extra Mile,” in which her characters make eye contact with the viewer, as if they know what’s in store for the future.

Crewel Intentions continues through August 24 in Philadelphia. Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.