Spin Club Stories is a mixed-media reintegration of history, environment, society and self in an interactive dialog spanning centuries. Reclaiming the artform and impact of women’s handiwork, Astrid assembles collages of images and textiles, perforated with hand embroidery. Sourced from family heirlooms, she figuratively empowers her ancestors—and ultimately herself—to transform the future.

In this conversation, Astrid discusses, among other things:

Rediscovering culture

Culture as kaleidoscope

Selecting elements to tell her story

Textiles and embroidery as connective tissue

Allowing materiality to lead process

Considering art vs. craft

The role of “women’s work”

The shifting boundaries that define identities

Working with lost knowledge

Memory as a key to the future

Healing power of art, craft and story

Creating new visual language via abstractions