This box of old prints I’d decided to throw out two years prior but for whatever reason, didn’t. They became a feature of the studio, a monument to no longer needed memories, a still life.
I’m fascinated by topographical strata and layers of traces and I then realised their potential as I started to shoot them in a controlled studio environment in my studio on and off for several weeks.
I’m a photographer but not a professionally trained studio one and therefore this was a whole new learning curve for me. Infinity screens, lighting, tripods, different lens etc. Given my inexperience, I just went for it, playing with different lighting, candles and other techniques. These are just a few examples, one of which became the image for my show, in Prague in december ’24, called Helter Skelter. I now need help with editing the rest in post production hopefully for a show in the near future.
Images:
02 – Poster for Helter Skelter exhibtion, Prague December 2024

This series has been ongoing since late 2020. It began with a series of polaroids taken during a 17 day quarantine with my son Jules in Stirling, Scotland as he prepared to start his BA at the University there. Cooped up and looking for some stimulation and routine things to do, we decided to take alternately a polaroid a day. I’ve held onto these polaroids and have been looking at ways to produce some work about or from them. These large scale panels are the latest approach, using porcelain slip on plywood panels. At the moment I see them like growing organic plants or possibly dying corals that hint at the original cluster of 17 polaroids. Still got some way to go…

Images:
01 – Q Polaroïds Slip 01’ WIP 153cm x 153cm porcelain slip on plywood panel
02 – Q Polaroïds Slip 02’ WIP 153cm x 153cm porcelain slip on plywood panel
03 – Q Polaroïds Slip paintings in studio in Montpellier, France
04 – Beginnings of Q Polaroïds Slip 01’ WIP 153cm x 153cm porcelain slip on plywood panel
05 – ‘Q Polaroïds 11:15pm 29/03/23′ 30cm x 30cm -oils, inks, & crayon on cotton paper 300g/m2
06 – ‘Q Polaroïds 11:43pm 23/03/23′ 30cm x 30cm -oils, inks, & crayon on cotton paper 300g/m2
07 – Q Polaroïds (14 polaroids alternately taken by my son, Jules and I, during our 14 day Covid quarantine in a flat in Stirling, Scotland, 27/08/20 – 09/09/20) still life in studio

I often invite composers to create soundscapes and music to accompany my installations and shows, as I believe profoundly in the power of music/sound and what it can bring both to my work and an audience. Sound or music contributes another dimension that triggers our minds to adjust the way we focus, observe and stimulate our emotions. For Helter Skelter I invited my son Jules, aka Køemner, to compose a piece to accompany the exhibition and what he created, moved me to the core. He spent several weeks trawling the web searching for Czechoslovak radio samples which he then manipulated into an ethereal and haunting piece. One witty Czech friend, who had witnessed the sovietic era, said “sounds like creepy communist demons getting out of a box”. It did this for sure, but in such a moving and sophisticated way. Køemner released an EP of the work called ‘Obědy v Praze’ which is now available on Bandcamp here and all music streaming services, enjoy the samples he’s embedded into the following images.

Images (all photographs taken in the 1980s):
01 – Køemner’s EP Cover for Obědy v Praze using my photograph taken in cafe off Wenceslas SQ 1989
02 – Me and Jules in Staroměstské náměstí, Prague, 08/12/24.
Audio Images:
01 – My photograph taken in cafe off Wenceslas SQ 1989 with sample of Køemner’s from his EP Obědy v Praze
02 – Phossil 708 Barbara Day photographed by czech secret police StB with sample of Køemner’s from his EP Obědy v Praze

Here are a selection of some of the source photographs, some mine but mainly contributed by friends who lived in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. There are also a few by the renowned Czech photographer, Libuše Jarcovjákova (©Libuše Jarcovjákova) Thank you to you all!

Images (all photographs taken in the 1980s and under ©):
01 – My photograph taken in cafe off Wenceslas SQ 1989
02 – My photograph taken in a tram in Prague in1989
03 – Photograph by Libuše Jarcovjákova ©Libuše Jarcovjákova
04 – Barbara Day photographed by czech secret police StB by tram stop Ošanskė namesti, 1986
05 – Photograph by Zdenek Kovar of his Aunt and Uncle from East Berlin in the 1980s
06 – Photograph by Anna Cochrane of farm yard in 1980s
07 – Photograph by Anna Cochrane of metro station Museum(?) in the 1980s
08 – Photograph by Anna Cochrane of Karolinka Vočadlo in the 1980s
09 – Barbara Day photographed by czech secret police StB Prague Airport, 1986
10 – Photograph by Libuše Jarcovjákova ©Libuše Jarcovjákova
11 – Photograph by Libuše Jarcovjákova ©Libuše Jarcovjákova
12 – Hana Syslova photographed by czech secret police StB on Vodičkova street, 1986
13 – Photograph of Hana Syslova’s family in the 1980s
14 – Photograph of Ivo Lorenc and his girlfriend Jana in the 1980s
15 – Photograph of Karolinka Vočadlo and her sister Lidunka with two friends
16 – Photograph of Karolinka Vočadlo and Kevin Powers and friends
17 – Photograph of Karolinka Vočadlo’s boyfriend
18 – Photograph by Katrin Vaughan of trams (Karlstein?)
19 – Photograph by Katrin Vaughan of local shops
20 – Photograph by Katrin Vaughan of Trabant cars in the snow
21 – Photograph by Mr Wenigerova of his daughter Lucie
22 – Photograph by Mr Wenigerova of his daughter Lucie reading at home
23 – Photograph by Zdenek Kovar of blonde girl in woods

HELTER SKELTER, my first solo show in the Czech Republic (Czechia), presented a series of 50 fired porcelain paintings that I interpreted from both photographs taken in Czechoslovakia during the 1980s and my own photographs and memories of my first visits to the country in 1989.
My research for photographs taken in Czechoslovakia in the ‘80s first began online where I came across several evocative photographs by Czech photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková. I then decided to further enrich the archive sources with a few of my own photographs from 1989 and amateur photographs contributed by Czech and English friends, who were all living in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s.
My first visits in 1989 had a profound effect on me and went on to influence my decision to eventually live there from 1994 to 1997. With ‘Helter Skelter’ I wanted to revisit 1980s Czechoslovakia through a combination of all the above source material to try and understand what was behind the spell that the place had over me in my early twenties. Was it the atmosphere, the friendly intelligent people, the strange otherworldliness behind the Iron Curtain, the architecture and so on…or maybe a cocktail of all this?
Thanks to my friend Ivo Lorenc who runs the Galerie Kavárny Kolíbka for the hosting the show and all those who contributed their personal images for the source material.

Images (all work on porcelain is handpainted with oxides, cobalt and iron, & fired at 1240ºc):
01 – Poster for Helter Skelter Exhibition
02 – Helter Skelter – 50 handpainted fired porcelains
03 – Phossil 672 – After a personal memory from Litomērice in 1989
04 – Phossil 708 Barbara Day photographed by czech secret police StB
05 – Phossil 708 Barbara Day photographed by czech secret police StB – Detail
06 – Phossil 708 Barbara Day photographed by czech secret police StB – Detail
07 – Phossil 678 After Libuše Jarcovjákova’s photograph
08 – Phossil 714 After Zdenek Kovar’s photograph – detail
09 – Phossil 714 After Zdenek Kovar’s photograph
10 – Phossil 674 After my photograph taken in cafe off Wenceslas SQ 1989 – detail
11 – Phossil 674 After my photograph taken in cafe off Wenceslas SQ 1989
12 – Phossil 674 After my photograph taken in cafe off Wenceslas SQ 1989
13 – Phossil 703 After Mr Wenigerova’s photograph of his daughter Lucie – detail
14 – Phossil 703 After Mr Wenigerova’s photograph of his daughter Lucie
15 – Phossil 703 After Mr Wenigerova’s photograph of his daughter Lucie
16 – Phossil 692 After Anna Cochrane’s photograph of Karolinka Vočadlo – detail
17 – Phossil 692 After Anna Cochrane’s photograph of Karolinka Vočadlo

Was invited by Karen Thomas from Spare Room // @spare_spareroom to exhibit a few pieces in this group show called ‘PULP’ showcasing 12 artist’s work on paper in a private flat in Montpellier. The work included drawing, painting, photography, print, screenprint and risography.
Other participants included: Margaux Duseigneur, Editions de l’Obsession, Fabien Dendievel, Miles Hall, Neptune Journal, Les Plis du Ciel, Romain Oudin, Sanaa Mejjadi, Lilu June, L_S_A and Køemner who played some of his compositions live during the Private View.

Images:
01 – ´Q Polaroids 15 : 41 pm 03/04/23’ Ink and oil on paper, 300g/m2, 30 x 30 cm – 2023
02 – ‘Untitled’ (FHE-8617) Monotype oil on paper, 300g/m2, 41cm x 32cm – 2013

Was invited by the fashion designer Hugo Le Crom @lecromlab to exhibit a few of my porcelain paintings I call, Phossils, alongside his latest YGGDRASIL Fall/Winter 24 collection at Pop Up Store in Paris. Hugo facetimed me and selected four pieces which corresponded to the colours he was looking for, directly from my wall in the studio. My son Jules, aka @Køemner, was invited to play his compositions live during the weekend show. A real pleasure and honour to be invited to collaborate with younger artists.

Images:
01 – Poster for 9901’s ephemeral show, showing a model with 9901’s clothes
02 – @Køemner
03 – Phossils – handpainted with cobalt oxide on porcelain (Polaroid format) and fired at 1240ºc
04 – Phossils – handpainted with various oxides on porcelain (Polaroid formats) and fired at 1240ºc

Karl Bielik the artist and lead singer of the band Lark, asked me to create short film for his new single, Blind. His idea was to invite an artist to create a short film for each track of his new album ‘Be Still’. I decided to go through surplus rushes of a film I’d made in Croatia for my project Susak Sentinels in 2018. This film, which I worked on with my old friend Kaz Raad, is a collage of all those rushes.
Images:
01 – Blind film
02 – Title slide of Blind film

Was invited by the artist/curator and director of Terrace Gallery, Karl Bielik to participate in this group show of 150 painters which celebrated 20 years of Terrace Gallery. Karl, who I first met when we both lived in Lisbon, took on a major project to curate 150 artist’s work, which he then hung beautifully in Patchworks in London. My piece, was one of the first paintings in my series ‘Mos’.

Images:
01 – It Rose And It Fell exhibition, Patchworks space, London
02 – It Rose And It Fell exhibition poster
03 – (Post numbers 09) – 08/03/2024 14:44 // 21cm x 29.7cm, phthalo blue ink, crayon & stand oil on Japanese Ito Bindery paper
04 – Basil Bonallack on hillside 50s?

These polaroid scale format paintings/drawings called ‘Mos’, each titled by the exact time of execution are a daily routine, come rain or shine.
Initially this daily ritual started by studying old family photos recovered from a flood at my parent’s house in January ‘24.
 Once I’d studied most of the damaged photos from the family album I decided to open up the rule book and also allow myself to trawl through recent memories, often the day before & dreams.
These are a few selections from the spring ’24 period. For more information please see ‘Mos Introduction’ in 2024.
Images:
(medium details for all drawings : 21cm x 29.7cm, phthalo blue ink, crayon & stand oil on Japanese Ito Bindery paper)
01 (Post numbers 151) – ‘19/07/2024/18:30 Dismantledtoycastlesdreammemory’
02 (152) – ‘21/07/2024/16:43 Discoballatraphs50thmemory’
03 (153) – ‘21/07/2024/16:43 Framedphotodreammemory’

These polaroid scale format paintings/drawings called ‘Mos’, each titled by the exact time of execution are a daily routine, come rain or shine.
Initially this daily ritual started by studying old family photos recovered from a flood at my parent’s house in January ‘24.
 Once I’d studied most of the damaged photos from the family album I decided to open up the rule book and also allow myself to trawl through recent memories, often the day before & dreams.
 These are a few selections from the spring ’24 period. For more information please see ‘Mos Introduction’ in 2024.
Images:
(medium details for all drawings : 21cm x 29.7cm, phthalo blue ink, crayon & stand oil on Japanese Ito Bindery paper)
01 (Post numbers 90) – 22/05/2024/14:19
02 – Me, Whitehouse, Shrewton, 73(?)
03 (97) – 29/05/2024/08:49 Dream memory
04 – (99) – 01/06/2024/16:21
05 – Tim (my dad) and his sister Jenny, sailing, 1960(?)
06 – (101) – 03/06/2024/17:56
07 – Granny Kate, Tim (my dad), Grandpa Basil, Kent (?), 1958 (?)
08 (109) – ’12/06/2024/09:37 Tamarindseedsfeathermemory’
09 (125) -’28/06/2024/15:54 Buoymemory’
10 (129) – ’04/07/2024/12:53 Swimmermemory’
11 (130) – ’05/07/2024/10:31 Lostdreammemory’
12 (140) – ‘15/07/2024/15:49 Rupertheathmemory’
13 (144) – ‘18/07/2024/18:11 Goodbyeasiastephjamesmemory’

These polaroid scale format paintings/drawings called ‘Mos’, each titled by the exact time of execution are a daily routine, come rain or shine.
Initially this daily ritual started by studying old family photos recovered from a flood at my parent’s house in January ‘24. Once I’d studied most of the damaged photos from the family album I decided to open up the rule book and also allow myself to trawl through recent memories, often the day before & dreams. These are a few selections from the spring ’24 period. For more information please see ‘Mos Introduction’ in 2024.

Images:
(medium details for all drawings : 21cm x 29.7cm, phthalo blue ink, crayon & stand oil on Japanese Ito Bindery paper)
01 (Post numbers 46) – 14/04/2024 14:34 //
02 – My Dad, Tim Bonallack on a diving training trip with army(?), Elba(?), early 60s(?)
03 (52) – 20/04/2024/16:42
04 – Granny Kate standing by farm wall, taken by Grandpa Basil(?) (who, if it was him, clearly had an eye for glamorous setting) (50s?)
05 (63) – 25/04/2024/10:34 ‘Windowincévennesmemory’
06 – (69) -01/05/2024/15:58
07 – Tim (my Dad), Jenny, John and Kate Bonallack sailing on Norfolk Broads(?), early 50s(?)
08 (70) – 01/05/2024/15:58
09 – Basil, Jenny, Tim (my Dad) and (?) packing car, late 50s(?)
10 (72) – 04/05/2024/12:09
11 – Group shot taken by Granny Kate(?), early 50s(?)
12 (75) – 07/05/2024/11:08
13 – Granny Kate and Grandpa Basil in a river, Kent UK (?), late 50s (?)
14 (77) – 11/05/2024/14:34 ‘Noseringsgiftmemory’
15 (78) – 12/05/2024/16:05
16 Grandpa Basil Bonallack on a beach UK (?), late 50s (?)