Michelle Agnew is a Canadian artist based in London, working in sculptural goldwork embroidery. She trained at the Royal School of Needlework, and in 2025 was made a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers.

Michelle Agnew's practice is rooted in the connection between language and textiles — the way thread shapes our understanding of the world and how we communicate. Text and textile share a common ancestor: the Latin texere, meaning to weave. Thread carries the weight of history — it structures language and stories, fosters communication, and encodes knowledge. Agnew works in sculptural goldwork, an ancient medium historically used to confer status, which she recontextualizes through an abstract, impressionistic approach — drawing on the natural world at both a macro and microscopic level to render these connections in still life and abstract form.

AWARDS
Hand & Lock the Prize: The Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Ware Drawers Associate Award, 2024

Mr. X Stitch Contemporary Needlework Prize 2024, Hand Embroidery, 3rd place.

Newmarket Juried Art Show 2025, Honourable Mention.

EXHIBITIONS

Fragile Threads, Royal School of Needlework, 2027.

Fringe Arts Bath, Stitch That Bit Back, 2026.

The Broderers’ Exhibition: The Art of Embroidery, Bankside Gallery, 2025.

Newmarket Juried Art Show, Newmarket Old Town Hall, 2025.

Hand & Lock the Prize Exhibition, Rosenfeld Gallery, 2024.

PRESS

FIBER TALK PODCAST, Michelle Agnew Sculpts with Gold Thread, May 10th, 2026.

WHAT WOMEN CREATE, The Art of Embroidery, Cover Story, Fall 2025, p. 45-53.

GRAND ALMA BOOK, Psychology, Luxury, and Contemporary Culture, Volume 1, p. 178-184

EMBROIDERY, The Textile Art Magazine, Volume 76, p. 15.

COLLABORATIONS

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC x MICHELLE AGNEW (Instagran, Sept 2026)

V&A x MICHELLE AGNEW, Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art (Instagram, 2026).

MERRELL X MICHELLE AGNEW (Instagram, NY Pop-Up, Sept 2024).

SAKS FIFTH AVENUE X MICHELLE AGNEW (TikTok, 2023).

MAX&Co. X MICHELLE AGNEW (TikTok, Jan 2023).

MAX&Co. X MICHELLE AGNEW (TikTok, Oct 2023).

MAX&Co. X MICHELLE AGNEW (TikTok, Dec 2023).

FASHION

Miss Sohee

Tamara Ralph

Jaquemus

Olivia Von Halle

EDUCATION

Royal School of Needlework, Certificate in Technical Hand Embroidery, 2022.

University of Waterloo, Honours English Literature and Rhetoric, 2020.