ONE SELF PORTRAIT EVERY DAY in 2020 : 243

2006 was a very special year for me as Italy won the World Cup. Ah, also it’s the year I completed my MA. And, I almost forgot, it’s the year Klara was born.

I got my degree from Reading University in 1991 and planned to maybe do an MA eventually. In 2005 I got Pericarditis which is an inflammation of a sac-like tissue that surrounds the heart. The symptoms are similar to a heart attack and although it only took a few month for me to get better it made me realise that life is short and we should try and do all the things we want to do. 

I quit my full time job at Walker Books and started working freelance (Walker Books gave me a lot of work) and I applied to MA courses in London. I got rejected pretty quickly without interviews by most of the colleges (Goldsmiths, Slade, Royal College, Camberwell, Saint Martin’s, I don’t think I applied to Wimbledon) as I was pretty rubbish but Chelsea gave me an interview for the postgraduate course that would then possibly lead to the MA course.

The interview was down at the Bagley’s Lane site (near Wandsworth Bridge Road) and I was Interviewed by Brian Chalkley together with a student. It went well and a couple of weeks later I was offered a place. I remember later being one of the students sitting next to Brian interviewing prospective candidates and I understand why I got in: those students who were very confident, showing off their achievements did not do well but we liked those who said “I’m a bit of a mess, I’m not sure what I’m doing but I’m searching”.

Another bit of good news was that Chelsea was going to move sites and their new site would be next door to Tate Britain which was a 10 minutes walk from Walker Books (pretty much just crossing Vauxhall Bridge). So I could quickly go back and forth between Walker Books and Chelsea. Sometimes, there would be an unplanned tutorial and my friend Janko would phone me telling me to get over there.

Klara was born on the 19th of September at 23:50. The next day was my final MA show at Chelsea.

Klara took this photo today in front of the college. 

I AM STILL ALIVE

---