Socks: The Art of Care and Repair - Celia Pym at NOW Gallery, Greenwich Peninsula, London

Celia Pym - John, Dad, Kent

 

Recently I went to see Celia Pym's "Socks: The Art of Care and Repair" at the NOW Gallery on Greenwich Peninsula in London.  This is Now gallery's 2024 Fashion Commission, focusing on sustainability through the act of mending and repair through darning.  I read online that over 21,000 million pairs of socks are made globally every year and also, globally, 92 million tonnes of textile waste goes to landfill.  Clothes are discarded on a whim, including socks perhaps with only a small hole which could easily be repaired.  Come to the NOW gallery and there are socks aplenty for you to have a go at mending, darning and stitching.  Learn a new skill or improve an old one and maybe that will inspire you to take "care" of your clothes and make your contribution to a more sustainable future.  Now Gallery certainly hope so!

Celia Pym - Family & Friends Mended Socks 2024

On display is a newly commissioned artwork, by Celia Pym, of socks from her friends and family that she has mended, visibly, in colours to suit their personality.  The patterns of wear thus stand out for us to see.  Celia's creative practice embraces damage and repair and the care that is involved in mending.  In fact Pym says "It is a small act of care to mend a hole in your sock, or the sock of someone you love. Mending is an action that changes the thing in front of you.  It doesn't erase the damage but makes the story of a sock, or any mended garment, more interesting. A spot of bright colour or a scar line that indicates an act of care."

Celia Pym -Family & Friends Mended Socks 2024 (detail)
Clockwise from top left - Hope, Mum, Kent (long); Bill, Friend, Gothenburg (blue); Karin, Friend, London (yellow); John, Dad, Kent; Takeshi, Friend, London (single sock); Jane, Friend, Derbyshire (navy); Agnes, Niece, Kent (grey) ; Jan Jan, Friend, London

Socks stitched by the Surrey Square Primary School Community

The exhibition doesn't just include Celia's sock mending.  What makes it even more interesting is that it includes 488 socks stitched by the Surrey Square Primary School Community in South East London using "warehouse waste" socks (socks with small imperfections that couldn't be sold). The socks came from J A Swift, a family run business in Hathern, Leicestershire established in 1895. Children, staff and families practised their sock darning and stitching in a series of 26 workshops that Pym organised between April and July 2024.  We are told that "The project encouraged resilience in being able to mend something; creativity to play with colour and yarn, and a feeling of care for yourself - for your clothes, the environment, and importantly, the clothes of other people."  

Yellow socks stitched by Year 2, green socks stitched by Year 3

I love this involvement of the community and passing on sewing skills to a new generation.  Many of the children didn't know what darning was, had never seen a needle and didn't know how to use one.  

Red socks stitched by Year 1, pink socks stitched by Reception, purple socks stitched by staff

The colours of the socks represent the year groups involved from the white of nursery children through to black of year 6 with the staff's purple socks distributed among them. 

White socks have been stitched by Nursery age children

There were pictures of beaming children proudly holding up their stitched socks and some of the artwork they had done for their stitched socks.  All the children and staff who had taken part were named.

Visitors' Mends

There were plenty of resources there to have a go at darning and stitching yourself and you could leave or take away your work.  I left mine.

My mend 

There are also a number of bookable events associated with the exhibition.  Take a look here. It's on until 9 March 2025, so you've got plenty of time to pop along!  It's a small but joyful exhibition. Do go if you can.

Greenwich - clockwise from top left:
Yinka Shonibare - Nelson's Ship in a Bottle outside the National Maritime Museum; the Royal Obervatory & Flamsteed House, Greenwich Park; Trinity Hospital Almshouses; the Old Royal Naval College

There isn't a cafe in the NOW Gallery but there are plenty nearby.  The nearest tube station is North Greenwich on the Jubilee line.  There's plenty to do in the vicinity.  There's an art trail round Greenwich Peninsula with over 17 pieces of art. After taking a look, we walked to Greenwich along the Thames footpath. Much of Greenwich is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the Old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory and the ship - Cutty Sark to name a few significant sites.

Greenwich Peninsula - clockwise from top left:
Damien Hirst - Demon with Bowl; IFS Cloud Cable Car; Richard Wilson - Slice of Reality; Uber Boat ride.

Later we got a Uber Boat by Thames Clippers back and took the IFS Cloud Cable Car across the river.  It made a great day out.