London-based artist Celia Pym brings interactive “Mending” exhibition to Ohio University’s Trisolini Gallery

Ohio University’s Trisolini Gallery will become an active mending workshop Oct. 19 through Nov. 6 as London-based artist Celia Pym brings her interactive exhibition, “Mending,” to Athens. Visitors are invited to bring sweaters, socks and other garments in need of repair to the gallery, where Ohio University students will mend the items throughout the exhibition. The repaired garments will become part of the exhibition before being returned to their owners at the close of the show.

The exhibition will feature Pym’s work “Rolf’s Sweater” and “Family and Friends Mended Socks,” alongside the ongoing mending workshop. As the exhibition progresses, the repaired garments will fill the gallery walls, creating a growing record of the community’s worn and mended clothing.

“Mending” explores the emotional and physical significance of damage and repair. A hole in a favorite garment can evoke feelings of loss, aging, fragility, accident or even neglect. Through the act of repair, Pym invites viewers to consider how caring for something worn or damaged can bring greater attention to its history and value.

Pym has been exploring damage and repair in textiles since 2007, focusing on everything from small everyday holes to more dramatic damage. Her work examines the evidence of wear and how repair can draw attention to the places where garments and textiles have become worn, thin or fragile.

Based in London, Pym has exhibited her work internationally and has been shortlisted for the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize and the inaugural Loewe Craft Prize. She is a visiting lecturer in mixed media textiles at the Royal College of Art in London.