Those Darn(ing) Artists
“If you’ve done all your own mending, there’s a heap of socks to be
looked over. Then I’ll show you about darning the tablecloths. I do
hate to have a stitch of work left over till Monday,” said Mrs.
Grant, who never took naps, and prided herself on sitting down to
her needle at 3 P.M. every day.
from Jack And Jill by Louisa May Alcott
I should be sitting down to my needle at 3pm every day but sadly I’m still unwell so apart from a tiny bit of drawing, I’ve not had the energy to make any art. I certainly haven’t been able to start the new series of work I’m planning, which involves a lot of sewing. However, I have been researching mending and darning in preparation and I’ve come across a couple of artists who use darning as an intrinsic part of their work.
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San Francisco artist, Michael Swaine trundles around with a handmade sewing cart mending people’s clothes and engaging them in conversation.
Michael Swaine: Sewing For The People
There’s an interesting video showcasing his projects here. He was recently in Britain undertaking a new project where he documented and darned people’s socks.
Michael Swaine: Darning Socks
That little box of thread and tools just makes me drool with longing – the neatness and particularity of it is very appealing to me.
His way of working instantly reminded me of my own Pin Ritual which uses pinning as a conduit for conversations about subjects like domesticity, repetitive labour and, almost invariably, people’s grandmothers.
Kirsty Hall: Pin Ritual
Celia Pym is a British artist who spent a year darning holes in clothes for her degree show at the Royal College of Art.
Celia Pym: Mend
Unfortunately Celia doesn’t seem to have a website, so I can’t tell you much more about her although you can see more of her work, including some very lovely little ink drawings, here.
Both these artists were found on Treehugger, an interesting site focused on green issues. Although they don’t have a specific art section, they do cover some contemporary art.
Other Darning Links
Prick Your Finger is an alternative haberdashery/knitting shop in London who have a fun blog that often mentions darning. They recently hosted Michael Swaine.
Jerry Barney from Fergus Falls in Minnesota recently wrote a charming post about finding a pair of socks that his mother had darned.
My Front Porch has been darning a sweater, while Kate from Needled repaired some jeans with the help of a vintage book.
I found the diagrams on this ‘how to’ page about Pueblo darning and mending quite delightful.
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If anyone knows of any other artists who are working with mending or darning, do let me know because I’d love to hear about them.
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[...] I emailed the lovely folks at Prick Your Finger in late December to see if they were interested in showing my work. I was aware of the performances and knitting activism of one of the founders, Rachael Matthews from the Cast Off knitting club. I’d also been following their blog after discovering a link to it when I was researching artists who use darning. [...]
Posted by London Show « Kirsty Hall on January 14th, 2009 @ 6:57 pm