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Education

2011-2013 Post Graduate Diploma, Adult Nursing, Kings College London
2006-2008 MA Constructed Textiles, Royal College of Art, London
2002-2003 PGCE Art and Design, Institute of Education, University College London
1997-2001 BA (hons) Visual and Environmental Studies (sculpture), Harvard University MA

Exhibitions

2024 Tangled Up, Sunny Bank Mills, Leeds, UK

  • Bags, Hweg, Penzance, UK
  • Blankets – WYP PYM, Salgshallen Galleri, Oslo, Norway
  • Waste Age, CitĂ© des Sciences et de L’industries, Paris, France

2023 Critical Consumption, MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria

  • The Geography of Objects: Cheongju Craft Biennale 2023, Cheongju, Korea
  • Connect. Reveal. Conceal, Make Hauser & Wirth, Savile Row, London
  • Threads: ‘Breathing Stories into Materials’, curated by Alice Kettle and Gemma Brace, Arnolfini, Bristol
  • Mining Mending: Rethink, Reuse, Revive, curated by Tracy Krumm, Textile Art Center Minneapolis, USA
  • On Happiness, Dresden Hygiene Museum, Germany
  • Repair Revolution!, Museum fĂŒr Gestaltung, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Waste Age, Hong Kong Design Institute, Hong Kong

2022 the gorgeous nothings, curated by Susan Morris, Bartha Contemporary, London

  • Eternally Yours: Care, Repair and Healing, Somerset House, London
  • Say Less curated by William Pym, Herald St
  • Harewood Biennial 2022: Radical Acts – Why Craft Matters, curated by Hugo Macdonald, Harewood House, Leeds
  • Keep Being Amazing, Firstsite, Colchester, Essex

2021   Waste Age: What can design do? The Design Museum, London

  • On Happiness: Tranquility and Joy, Wellcome Collection, London
  • Together It Seams, Prick & Stitch Alliance, Standpoint Gallery, London

2020   Siblings, Trading Museum, Paris, France

  • Material Matters, TextilMuseum, St Gallen, Switzerland
  • Sewing Box for the Future, V&A Dundee, Scotland

2019   Over Under: Under Over, Cordis Tapestry, Open SSA & VAS, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland

  • Don’t feed the Monster, Punkt Ø, Galleri F 15, Moss, Norway
  • Kind Things, Curator’s Cube, Tokyo, Japan
  • “I have sharp elbows but my needle is sharper”, TOAST: 191 Westbourne Grove, London
  • Subversive Stitch, TJ Boulting, London
  • Motive/Motif, Vestry House Museum, London

2018   Flying Gold Cape, Nouveau MusĂ©e National de Monaco, Monaco
2017   Woman’s Hour Craft Prize, V&A Museum, London, UK and touring

  • Craftschool, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall, UK
  • Between Things, curated by Kaavous Clayton and Ben Coode-Adams, The Minories, Colchester, UK
  • LOEWE Craft Prize 2017, COAM, Madrid, Spain; Chamber Gallery, NY, USA and 21_21, Tokyo, Japan
  • Threads: Taking Up Needle and Yarn, Celia Pym and Diana Taylor, curated by Alice Bygraves, C4RD: Centre for Recent Drawing, London, UK

2016   Parallel Practices, Utopia Treasury, Somerset House, London, UK

  • hand/work, SĂœning Ă­ BĂ­lskurs GallerĂ­, BlönduĂłs, Iceland
  • 59 Sorties: LAB – Behind the scenes of Monaco’s art museum, Villa Sauber, Nouveau MuseĂ© National de Monaco, Monaco

2015   Making It The Space (Performing Arts Centre), Sevenoaks School, Kent, UK

  • What do I need to do to make it ok? Pump House Gallery, London, UK and touring
  • Festival of Love: LOVE the YARN with Lasmin Salmon, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London, UK
  • Knit 1, Mend 1, Keep 1, Share 1 Walford Mill Crafts, Wimborne, Dorset, UK

2014   Mending and Anatomy: I’ve got holes on the heels of my socks, on the fingertips of my gloves, on my elbows, on my knees,  

  •  at the folds and seams of my jeans, where my backpack rubs against my shoulder, Dissecting Room, Kings College London, UK

2013   UFO (unfinished objects), Prick Your Finger, London, UK

  • Cloth and Memory {2}, curated by Lesley Millar, Salt’s Mill, Saltaire, Yorkshire, UK
  • No excuse for what I do in private, curated by Matt Rich, Delicious Spectacle, Washington DC, USA

2012   Art and Anatomy, Gordon Museum of Pathology, London, UK

  • WOW: The wonder of wool and art of knit and stitch, Rheged Gallery, Cumbria, UK

2011   Bite-Size, Daiwa Foundation, London; Gallery Gallery, Kyoto and University of Arts, Nagoya, Japan

  • Missed/Missing, Textile Arts Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA

2010   outside-in, curated by Lisa Schmidt, Aichi Triennial, Nagoya, Japan

  • Service, Household, Stratford, London, UK
  • Iremember, August Art, London, UK

2009   Making and Mending, Bury St Edmunds Gallery, Norfolk, UK

  • UFO project by Rachael Matthews, Jerwood Contemporary Makers, London, UK
  • Friends of the Divided Mind: Office of Real Time Activity, CCA MA degree show curated by Lisa Schmidt, Royal College of Art, London, UK

2008   Fixing the Holes, Prick Your Finger, London

  • This Darn Day, Royal College of Art, London, UK
  • 2000 Years of Sculpture, Fleischer-Ollman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, USA

2007   Knitnic, West Norway Museum of Decorative Art, Bergen and National Gallery of Arts and Crafts, Oslo, Norway
2005   Knit 2 Together, Crafts Council, UK
2002   Blue Knitting, Honyara-do Gallery, Kyoto, Japan

Awards

2018   UK Craft Fellow, Penland School of Craft and Crafts Council UK, North Carolina, USA
2017   Finalist, Woman’s Hour Craft Prize, Woman’s Hour and Crafts Council, London, UK

  • Finalist, LOEWE Craft Prize 2017, Madrid, Spain

2016   UK Craft Residency 2016, Cove Park, Scotland, UK

  • Winner Parallel Practices Residency (Part 2) with Richard Wingate, Crafts Council & Kings Cultural Institute, UK
  • Resident Artist, TextĂ­lsetur Íslands, BlönduĂłs, Iceland

2014   Winner Parallel Practices Residency with Richard Wingate, Crafts Council & Kings Cultural Institute, UK
2012   Third Prize Art and Anatomy Exhibition, Gordon Museum of Pathology, UK
2011   Resident Artist, Vermont Studio Center, USA
2010   Outside/In, Curatorial Competition Selection, Aichi Triennial, Japan
2003   Mrs Kray (2000) (wr/dir), selected short film category, Officinema Festival, Bologna, Italy
2001   Gardner Fellowship, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA

Talks

2024 Threads of Change, Urban Village Fete, Greenwich Peninsula

2023 Value of Making – stories in cloth, tools and stitching, Emily Jo Gibbs, Celia Pym and Rose Sinclair, Craft Central, London

2022  In Conversation Celia Pym and Freddie Robins at Loop, London
2021  Everyday Tools, Everywhere Use: Scissors & Needles, The Textile Society Annual Conference, Wellcome Collection, London
2019  Damage and Repair, Making is Good for You Conference, Hertitage Crafts Association, Cecil Sharpe House, London
2018  Darning Damage: Learning from Annemor Sundbþ’s damaged Ragpile sweater, Knitting History Forum, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
2016  Unusual Territory, Make it Ok? A symposium on damage and repair, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, Surrey, UK

  • 59 Sorties, Villa Sauber, NMNM, Monaco

2015  Appetites for Destruction  in conversation with Rachael Matthews, Pump House Gallery, London, UK

  • Is this a Thing? Central St Martins – University of the Arts, London; Norwich University of the Arts, Norwich; University of Creative Arts, Farnham, UK

2014  Parallel Practices Panel Discussion, Make: Shift Crafts Council Conference, Ravensbourne, London, UK

  • Making Repairs Institute of Making, UCL, London, UK
  • Emotions, Transformations, Restorations with Fred Bearman, Institute of Making, UCL, London, UK

2012   Mending Women’s Institute @ V&A Museum, London, UK
2009   Perfection Bury St Edmunds Gallery, Norfolk, UK

Partnerships

Maison Margiela (2021) Collaboration with Maison Margiela ‘Artisanal’ 2021 Collection in the film ‘A Folk Horror Tale’. Blue wool Recicla jumper interwoven with antique newspapers through hand-embroidery and darning.
MUJI (2021) Repair for a Longer Life – The Slipper Project. Collaboration with MUJI to explore ways in which to extend the life of MUJI slippers that are damaged or worn out.  Vittoria’s Slippers and Ella’s Slippers 
Craftspace Curious About Craft (2009) and Craftspace Collective (2010)
Emma Hoette Fashions and Embodiement Workshop (2016)
Siri Johansen, Sweater made without a pattern, from photograph and in pieces (2009)
Rachael Matthews (2009-2015) UFO administration project Prick Your Finger
GaĂ«tan Morlotti, 59 Sorties (2016)
Andrew Omoding, invited visiting artist to share day of making as part of Andrew’s residency at Camden Arts Center (2019) ActionSpace
Freddie Robins, The Imperfect (2008)
Lasmin Salmon, ActionSpace artist, LOVE the YARN:Festival of Love (2015) ActionSpace Festival of Love
Annemor SundbĂž, Norwegian Sweater (2010) from Annemor SundbĂž’s Ragpile
Richard Wingate partner Parallel Practices Residency (2014/2016) – Parallel Practices Blog Film


Press/Interviews

Celia Pym, Hweg, Penzance by Martin Holman, Sculpture Magazine, May 2024

Darn it, Celia Pym the mother of modern mending by Corinne Julius, Selvedge, January 2024

What Remains by Dal Chodha, The Plant, Issue 20, November 2023

Damage Darning by Nic Carter, Sociotype Journal, Issue 2, January 2023

Harewood Biennial explores the radical potential of craft by Alice Morby, Wallpaper, April 2022
Harewood Biennial 2022: Radical Acts Podcast with Hugo MacDonald Spring 2022
The Threads that Bind Us by Ellen Bell, Embroidery, May/June 2022
Hand to Hand words by Katie Treggiden images by Jasper van den Bosch, Hole & Corner, Issue 22: Family, Jan 2022
Damage and Repair: textile artist Celia Pym knits meaning into mended clothes by Lydialyle Gibson, Harvard Magazine, Jan-Feb 2022
Piecing Together a Fashion Statement by Melanie Abrams, New York Times, 30th October 2021
An Inside Look at the Artists Behind Maison Margiela’s 2021 Couture Show by Zoe Kelken, CR FashionBook, 14th April 2021
The Threads That Bind Us by Chloe Borich, Index Magazine, issue no. 4, July 2021
Darn Tootin’: Decorative Mending with Celia Pym in pictures by Kathryn Bromwich, The New Review, Observer, 19th April 2021
Altered States by Yasmin Jones-Henry, Crafts Nov/Dec 2020
Wear your repairs with pride – inside the modern mending movement by Rosanna Dodds, Financial Times, 24th October 2020
Crafted to Last, interview with Bird Brooklyn, 29th September 2020
Der wollene Faden by Stephanie Eichler photos by Emanuel Herm, Werde: The Art of Green Living, issue no.3 2020
Home Advantage: Making the most of WFH by Nell Card, The Observer, 28th June 2020
Mending has never looked so good by Sarah Spellings, Vogue, 22nd April 2020
Now is when we all learn to darn our socks again by Steven Kurutz, New York Times, 12 March 2020
The Art of Darning by Daisy Gray; photographs by Tara Darby, Rake’s Progress, issue 11, February 2020
Celia Pym: La detective de los tejidos by MarĂ­a Contreras, El PaĂ­s Semanal, 6th March 2019
Material Matters with Grant Gibson, episode 4, Podcast devoted to all things making 22nd January 2019
Reconstructing the history of bodies through the darning of their traces by Carolina Martinez, EfĂ­mera vol. 9. nĂșm 10, November 2018
hole hearted by Emma Elwick-Bates, More or Less Magazine, issue 1, May 2018
Celia Pym: I didn’t ever see the point of invisible mending by Janet McKenzie, Studio International, May 2018
Meet Celia Pym – knitwear’s own ‘damage detective’, by Flora Johnston, Financial Times, 24 February/25 February 2018
Interview Woman’s Hour Craft Prize with Jane Garvey, Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 16th August 2017
6 Designers Explain Why Craft Still Matters in a Digital World by Diana Budds, FastCoDesign.com, 31st May 2017
Loewe Craft Prize Winners 2017 by Sarah Mower, Vogue, 10th April 2017
Celia Pym is mending the human heart through knit by Harriet Wolstenholm, 1 Granary, 15th March 2017
Darning a Yarn by Ian Wilson, Embroidery, January/February 2017
Meet the Artists by Katy Bevan, The Knitter, issue 104, November 2016
BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour 08/11/16 Parallel Practices, Science and Craft at 36 mins November 2016
CELIA PYM: Die Zeit hinterlĂ€sst Spuren by Lisa Damberg, The Heritage Post Women, No 10, September 2016
Celia Pym gives new life to the Monte Carlo Opera’s old costumes, Monaco Channel, tv, 21 January 2016
View by Katy Bevan, Selvedge, January 2016
World News: Celia Pym – Knitting and Anatomy by Hikaru Noguchi, Keitodama, no.166, Autumn 2015
How the Other Half Live by Teleri Lloyd-Jones, Crafts Magazine, Issue no. 253, Mar/April 2015
Celia Pym: gives you the world’s best mending tips by Emma Lundin, Make it Last, Spring 2015
Knitting trip around Japan ties up more projects by Angela Jeffs, Japan Times, May 2005

Writing

Catch Me If I Faint interview with Lesley Millar, Selvedge, October 2023

Come Fly with Me Embroidery Magazine, November/December 2019
Mending and Anatomy – making your hands knowledgable Utopian Studies Journal, vol.28 no.3, Special Issue: Fashion and Utopia ed. Mila Burcikova, Penn State University Press

Teaching

Associate Lecturer, Textiles MA, Royal College of Art, London
Visiting Lecturer, Knitted Textiles BA, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London
Workshop Instructor, Textiles, Penland School of Crafts, NC,
Mending Workshop Teacher, West Dean College,  Loop , Raystitch and STORE School