If I get even the slightest whiff of an artist doing something cool with soccer kits, it’s certain I’ll be interested—especially so, when it’s avant-garde embroidery. Naturally, I found my way to the work of Nicole Chui, an embroidery artist and football fan based in London. I heard about Chui’s provocative show at OOF gallery, which recently wrapped, and I was completely taken with how her web of floating, embroidered soccer kits transformed the gallery space.
As a self-described “Disruptive Embroideress,” Chui’s work pushes the envelope of conventional embroidery, which is often associated with subtlety and delicacy. Instead, Chui’s work takes embroidery in an unexpected direction, making it brash and loud, intentionally raw, and rough around the edges. Combining this aesthetic with her love of soccer was at the heart of her show “Ruined,” which was the culmination of her three-month-long artist residency at OOF gallery.
Photographs by Bobby Tsang
Completely sold on everything Chui is about, I reached out with a few questions to dig deeper into her perspective as an artist and to hear more about “Ruined.” Her responses are below, edited lightly for clarity and length.
What’s your personal relationship to soccer and soccer fashion?
My personal relationship with football started when I was eight years old. My dad took me to a local football practice session, and I remember trying to tackle anyone with the ball and running around. It has grown from just a sport I play, to a creative bed of inspiration and, now, community. Football Fashion, particularly via Season zine, is the reason I started playing football again as an adult. Fashion is the link that stitched my athleticism, history, and current community together in football.
Fashion is the link that stitched my athleticism, history, and current community together in football.
When and why did football kits become such a core aspect of your artistic practice?
It all started from a workshop I did for Season zine at Adidas in Carnaby Street. I had a few spare kits from an up-cycling jersey workshop I’d hosted, so that gave me the opportunity to experiment with embroidering the expression I had been applying to photography onto shirts.
photographs by Bella Galliano Hale
The juxtaposition of ‘precious’ embroidery threads with a functional item like a football kit feels symbolic of my personal identity through the rediscovery of football in my adult years.
I see football kits as more of an opportunity to be outwardly expressive on something wearable, like a badge of honor. It’s the next step of my art because, with football kits, you can’t hide who you support or what you stand for; it’s pretty direct, and when you wear it out, you’re either uniting or dividing people. It’s a powerful canvas, and based on reactions from my solo show, they can be extremely polarizing. The juxtaposition of “precious” embroidery threads with a functional item like a football kit feels symbolic of my personal identity through the rediscovery of football in my adult years.
Photographs by Bobby Tsang
How did you first get into embroidery? When did the idea to combine embroidery with soccer kits come to you?
My grandma taught me English smocking when I was 15 years old. It was tough, but I loved spending time with her and getting to create something texturally fascinating. The idea of football shirts only came to me after the Carnaby Street workshop I hosted, and it was more of an organic experiment-turned-outlet of expression.
How would you describe your embroidery aesthetic?
Messy, brash and disruptive. It’s loud, aggressive, and expressive, just like my thoughts.
Photograph by Bobby Tsang
Can you reflect on your experience conceiving of and executing your “Ruined” exhibition? What was your OOF gallery residency experience like? How did you develop that show?
The residency gave me the opportunity to create new work, develop what I really wanted to say through art, and critically reflect on my identity through my body of work. I learned how to think about my practice from different angles from the OOF gallery directors Jennie, Justin, and Eddy, which has shaped how I want to position myself now. These three dedicate their time to making the gallery and residency the best it can be for artists. I didn’t think I’d make half the things I showed when I started. To be honest, it all came so naturally.
Photograph by Willow Hannya
The idea for the web layout came from a conversation between Justin and me about how thread/yarn is so childlike and nostalgic for us. We both wanted to design the space so people would want to explore the room through the careful walking and dodging the yarn that filled the art space. The exhibition took place exactly where I’d sat and created the works for three months, so it felt very transformative overall.
Photograph by Willow Hannya
I know your soccer fandom is primarily in the women’s football space (and you’re a big Bend it Like Beckham fan, just like me!) How is your position in the art and soccer world impacted by your POV as a woman?
Despite my fandom being primarily in that space now, I actually didn’t know anything about women’s football until 2019, when I started playing football again and got more involved in the grassroots women’s football space in East London. The more I got involved, the more I realized how important it is to nurture a safe space to allow different voices and curiosities about football and life, and to have conversations about our impact on the next generation.
I’m carving out a space for myself, for a new wave of embroidery art to grow in football and beyond.
Similar to my art, I feel like I’m carving out a space for myself, for a new wave of embroidery art to grow in football and beyond. Being able to sustain my studio now, after seven years, makes me more confident that I’m able to do what I need to do to move forward. Overall, my position has impacted the way I put effort into fostering a welcoming space in football, and push for various artistic expressions in traditional spaces to be seen and valued in the forefront.
Photographs by Willow Hannya
Now that the show has concluded, what’s next? Do you have other ideas for your soccer kit embroidery practice?
Potential shows happening here and in Europe. I plan to continue developing wearable art, and, in the near future, I’ll travel to Hong Kong to capture my first football collaboration there.
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