Adrienna Matzeg’s Embroideries Serve Up the Nostalgic Charm of the Greasy Spoon

Order up! The only two words you want to hear when you’re ravenous and seated at the laminate counter of a roadside diner.

Artist Adrienna Matzeg takes this highly anticipated call as the basis for a new trio of punch-needle works. Through nostalgic embroidered tableaux, she whips up melty grilled cheese, waffles with a pat of butter, and a banana split with puffs of cream and not just one, but three cherries nested on top.

an embroidery of waffles and silverware by Adrienna Matzeg — Detail of “Sweet as Suga’”

Like much of her earlier work, Order Up captures Matzeg’s keen interest in nostalgia and the welcome discoveries of a long car ride. “Inspired by North American roadside diners and late-night stops, each piece captures the essence of a greasy spoon,” she adds.

Whether a cheap paper napkin or bottomless cup of coffee, the objects all appear to pop up from the delicately mottled backdrops, the painstakingly stitched shadows hugging their forms.

Find more about Matzeg’s work on Tacit Collective, and keep up with her practice on Instagram.

an embroidery of ketchup, a cup of coffee, and a napkin dispenser by Adrienna Matzeg — Detail of “House Special”

an embroidery of a banana split by adrienna matzeg — “Sundae Best”

an embroidery of waffles, a cup of tea and silverware by Adrienna Matzeg — “Sweet as Suga’”

an embroidery of ketchup, grilled cheese, a cup of coffee, and a napkin dispenser by Adrienna Matzeg — “House Special”

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