Episode notes
In this episode of NeedleXChange, I interview Vanessa Marr, an artist, researcher, and lecturer whose work explores the invisible labour of women through textiles. Her long-running project, Domestic Dusters, invites people to embroider their personal experiences onto the humble yellow duster, transforming it into a powerful storytelling medium. We discuss the origins of the project, the unexpected history of dusters, and how embroidery can reclaim narratives of domesticity and gender roles.
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:30 – Why are dusters always yellow? The unknown history behind them
00:06:00 – How Vanessa’s project started: Choosing the duster as a medium
00:10:30 – Fairy tales, feminism, and how stories shape women’s roles
00:19:00 – The meditati ...