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    In ‘Crewel Intentions,’ Danielle Clough Delves into the Nostalgic World of 1970s Magazines

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    “Crewel Intentions” (2025), wool, cotton, rayon, and silk on linen, 9.5 x 18 x 2.25 inches framed. All images courtesy of the artist and Paradigm Gallery + Studio, shared with permission

    In ‘Crewel Intentions,’ Danielle Clough Delves into the Nostalgic World of 1970s Magazines

    August 11, 2025

    ArtCraft

    Kate Mothes

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    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.

    “Dyed in the Wool” (2025), wool, cotton, rayon, and silk on linen, 14.5 x 14.5 x 2.25 inches framed

    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.

    Detail of “Crewel Intentions”

    Installation view of ‘Crewel Intentions’ at Paradigm Gallery + Studio

    “The Extra Mile” (2025), wool, cotton, rayon, and silk on linen, 8.25 x 16.25 x 1.5 inches framed

    “The Yarn We Spin” (2025), wool, cotton, rayon, and silk on linen, 25 inches diameter

    Detail of “What’s a Girl to Do?” (2025), wool, cotton, rayon and silk on linen, 32 inches diameter

    Installation view of ‘Crewel Intentions’ at Paradigm Gallery + Studio

    “Boy Lollipop” (2025), wool, cotton, and silk on linen, 17 inches diamater

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      in Art

      Lorna Simpson Photographs Rihanna in an Elegantly Collaged Collaboration for ESSENCE Magazine

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      Art
      Photography

      #celebrities
      #collage
      #found photographs
      #magazines

      January 25, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Of Earth & Sky (Blue Cumulus)” (2020), collage and ink on paper. All images © Lorna Simpson, courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
      An extraordinarily glamorous collaboration graces the pages of ESSENCE’s January/February 2021 issue. The print publication paired acclaimed artist Lorna Simpson and pop icon and businesswoman Rihanna for a striking interpretation of modern beauty.
      Within the Of Earth & Sky series are 12 collages and the cover image, which features Rihanna, eyelids coated in bright blue, staring directly at the camera. A diamond collar drapes around her neck, and she’s adorned with a roughly textured crown of crystal derived from 19th-century lithographs.
      Many of the superimposed collages feature the Barbados-born singer framed in archival imagery, from star-studded galactic coiffes to bright bursts of watercolor. Others in the collection stray from hairstyle transformations and instead position her against vintage backdrops, including one shot of Rihanna donning an elaborately feathered headdress and lingerie in front of the city skyline.
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      “Of Earth & Sky (Nebula)” (2020), collage on paper
      “Of Earth & Sky (Cover)” (2020), collage on paper
      “Earth & Sky #24” (2016), collage on paper
      “Of Earth & Sky (Bivalve)” (2020), collage on paper
      “Of Earth & Sky (Moving Planets) “(2020), collage on paper
      “Of Earth & Sky (Bridge)” (2020), collage on paper

      #celebrities
      #collage
      #found photographs
      #magazines

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