Wood Carving and Embroidery

This is a recording of a live event, recorded on Wednesday 10 June 2026.

With artist Jo Grogan

In this talk wood sculptor Jo Grogan explores the intersection of wood carving and textiles through the embroidered wooden flowers created for her award-winning piece Rocaille Morphosis after expert tuition from the Royal School of Needlework.

Blurring the boundaries between traditionally distinct crafts, Jo will discuss her process of translating the softness and fluidity of embroidery into the rigid medium of wood. The work draws on the ornate language of Rococo decoration while reimagining it through a contemporary lens where transformation, material tension, and illusion play central roles.

Jo offers insight into her technical experimentation, conceptual influences, and the dialogue between past and present that underpins the piece, opening a conversation about how heritage crafts can evolve through interdisciplinary practice.

After 20 years in the fashion industry, Jo Grogan changed career path to retrain in historic woodcarving & gilding at the City & Guilds of London Art School. Since then, she has been awarded a QUEST Scholarship, been funded under Sarabande’s Foundation, has received her Master Carvers Certificate under the Livery Company Skills Council (LCSC) and is now resident under the Delfina Foundation.