On Mending: Stories of damage and repair
Celia Pym explores the varied evidence of damage: how repair draws attention to the places where garments and cloth wear down and grow thin. These personal tales document the intimate damage caused to clothing by everyday use and the parallels with the consequent wear and tear on the body.
‘Darning is small acts of care,’ she says, ‘and paying close attention.’
Since its sell out publication in 2022 On Mending has been reprinted twice and is one of our bestsellers. Celia’s work and the stories of the people she has worked with seems to touch a nerve with readers.
Textile language crops up in the body: mending language works on the body as well as on garments. We describe the body as mending after illness or injury – ‘I’m on the mend,’ someone might say if they’re feeling better. You might hear a doctor or nurse describe a broken bone as ‘mending well’, or broken bones are often described as knitting back together as the break heals. Pym is interested in exploring the varied evidence of damage, and how repair draws attention to the places where garments and cloth wear down and grow thin. These personal tales document the intimate damage caused to clothing by everyday use and the parallels with the consequent wear and tear on the body.
The artist Celia Pym lives in London and has been exploring damage and repair in textiles since 2007. Working with garments that belong to individuals as well as items in museum archives, she has broad experience with stories of damage, from moth holes to accidents with fire.
