Made With These Hands Podcast Hugh McNeill Interviews Gunta Andrews

About this episode

Hugh McNeill interviews textile artist Gunta Andrews about her journey and the intersection of craft and contemporary fashion.

My guest today is Gunta Andrews, a textile artist whose work beautifully combines personal history, hand-stitching, and storytelling. Growing up as the daughter of immigrant parents in a city still recovering from the war, her early life was shaped by questions of identity, resilience, and belonging. Creativity entered her life early, learning embroidery and sewing from her German grandmother—skills that would later become central to her artistic voice. Her work has since gained recognition through exhibitions, television appearances, and even a nod from Dr. Martens for one of her embroidered pieces. Now studying fashion at the Cambridge School of Art, she continues to explore how craft, humour, and storytelling can intersect with contemporary fashion—particularly with a vision to create bold, expressive clothing for older women. Today we’ll talk about her journey—from childhood and punk culture to art school, recognition, and what it means to keep making with your hands in a fast-moving digital world. See Gunta's work on Instagram on tired_and _freemotional https://www.instagram.com/tired_and_freemotional/?hl=en

People in this episode

Host: Hugh McNeill

Guest: Gunta Andrews

Topics covered

• textile art
• personal history
• storytelling
• craft
• fashion
• identity
• resilience

Keywords

• textile artist
• hand-stitching
• storytelling
• embroidery
• fashion
• older women
• creativity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cambridge School of Art, Dr. Martens

Places: Germany, city

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