“Crewel Intentions,” 2025, embroidery on linen.
Some 18 years ago, Danielle Clough stumbled upon a vintage Playboy issue in an antique shop. At first, it felt subversive and mischievous to flip through its pages—it was, after all, considered to be for “adults only.” Except the more Clough read, the more she readjusted her underlying expectations. As it turned out, the issue strayed from “vapid subject matter[s],” bursting instead with “artistic images, long non-fiction stories, and interesting articles,” per the South Africa-based artist.
“Don’t get me wrong—not all of it is like this,” Clough tells My Modern Met. “But my preconceived ideas of it, and what things were like in the past, were very misguided.”
It didn’t take long for Clough to latch onto the magazine’s many adverts and editorials, prompting her to translate their 1970s visuals into vibrant embroidery. Across her heavily saturated, textured surfaces, the artist isolates images of pin-up girls, cowboys, eyes, and advertisements from their original contexts, inviting viewers to “draw new conclusions for themselves.”
“This allows the viewer to see these snippets of the past in isolation,” Clough adds.
These embroidered works are now at the heart of Clough’s latest solo exhibition, Crewel Intentions, at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia. Beyond their technicolor hues and nostalgic mood, the artist’s embroidery fulfills a more existential purpose as well. Not only does Crewel Intentions incorporate an increasingly vanishing medium—the print magazine—but it also plays with fiber art as both a timeless and contemporary expression.
“Print magazines are a great example of how things come in waves,” Clough explains. “Fiber art is also finding itself front and center in the contemporary art world, yet we have been embellishing cloth since the beginning of time.”
The effect is a kind of “time warp,” per the artist. Layers of time collapse upon one another, resulting in canvases that are ancient and modern all at once. Taken in its entirety, then, Crewel Intentions is an exercise in reviving analog media without alienating current attitudes toward artistic creation, especially within our digital era. At the same time, it’s also a rebellion against what we understand and uplift as “new.”
“In this time warp, it made me wonder why we feel something needs to be novel to be valuable,” Clough says. “Looking at these photos, fashions, and even music from the past has entrenched that good work stands out, and I can focus on pushing myself to be a better creative and not on running the race of ‘newness’ and constant reinvention.”
By combining embroidery and print media, Clough achieves something unique: an encounter between the “old and the old.”
“Crewel Intentions allows us to relive and relook at our expectations and preconceived ideas. I don’t want to prescribe what the work will do or even what it should mean, but if it opens up a dialogue within someone, then I think that’s a success.”
Of course, fiber art isn’t just theoretical or a means to an end for Clough: it’s been with her throughout her life, ever since her childhood when her mother would make and stitch up clothes.
“Embroidery has always made sense to me—the pace, the layering, and how tactile it is. It’s a gentle indulgence in color.”
Crewel Intentions is currently on view at Paradigm Gallery + Studio through August 24, 2025.
In her latest solo exhibition, Crewel Intentions, Danielle Clough reimagines classic advertisements, editorials, and pin-ups through her technicolored embroidery.
“Dyed in the Wool,” 2025, embroidery on linen.
“Fabricated Tales,” 2025, embroidery on hand-dyed linen.
“The Extra Mile,” 2025, embroidery on linen.
Installation view of “Danielle Clough: Crewel Intentions” at Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia. (Photo: Paradigm)
The featured works are primarily inspired by a vintage issue of Playboy that Clough discovered several years ago in an antique shop.
“The Yarn We Spin,” 2025, embroidery on linen.
“Well Seen,” 2025, embroidery on linen.
“What’s a Girl to Do?,” 2025, embroidery on linen.
“Boy Lollipop,” 2025, embroidery on linen.
Crewel Intentions is now on view at Paradigm Gallery + Studio through August 24, 2025.
Installation view of “Danielle Clough: Crewel Intentions” at Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia. (Photo: Paradigm)
“All the Shades,” 2025, mixed media.
“Seems So,” 2025, embroidery on hand-dyed linen.
Installation view of “Danielle Clough: Crewel Intentions” at Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia. (Photo: Paradigm)
