INSPIRING PEOPLE
BIRD’S EYE VIEW
Embroidery artist Victoria Rose Richards transforms landscapes into textured, top-down worlds that stir memory and meaning
Interview byJulian Odessa
From countryside fields to circuit board cities, Victoria Rose Richards’ work offers a fresh vantage point on nostalgia, nature, and the stories stitched within. From high above, the patchwork of countryside fields becomes a quiet kind of poetry; a perspective that has captivated her since she first picked up a needle during her university days in Devon. What began as a creative refuge soon grew into a distinctive artistic practice, one that reimagines entire landscapes in wool, thread, and texture.
“I started stitching in 2018,” she explains, “mostly to counter stress and boredom.” At the time, Victoria was studying biology and found herself with few creative outlets. “Being autistic meant I had little social life, and no desire for one, and artistic escapes like painting weren’t allowed in the dorms.” To fill the time and manage her mental health, she turned to embroidery. Inspired by artists online, she began experimenting, drawn by the idea of using thread to investigate geography from a new angle.