Triona Holden
Artist Author Broadcaster Journalist
Whitstable, United Kingdom
0044 (0)7939 250 095
be.net/Triona72
Triona Holden,
Artist Statement
Feb 2020
My work explores the past in the present, informed by irreverence to, and reconstruction of, modern idols through a number of processes including domestic graffiti. I am inspired by artists who challenge societal beliefs and undermine popular culture in their work. I for example draw on the works of Blek Le Rat and Annette Messager whose practices, whilst very different, both pervert the commonplace on a number of humorous, political and/or critical levels, bending it to their will in order to express their perspectives on life.
I work across the mediums using whatever creative materials I sense are needed for any given piece and I draw on the palette and forms of Chagall, Raoul Dufy, Klee and Kandinsky whose broad use of colour feeds the surreal nature of a world unshackled by gravity. Having spent much of my life as a journalist trapped within the confines of fact, embracing fantasy and play is, for me, immensely liberating and a powerful creative force.
Old toys fascinate me unceasingly. They have the imprimatur of play upon them - the more broken, chipped and worn the better. These icons communicate directly with my sense of play and how this changes across time. They allow me to share the touch of children from the past and resonate with my own journey into adulthood. I use them to create a personal and artistic narrative in 3D dioramas.
The same applies to the use of old magazines and images, especially from the 50s and 60s. Like Sir Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton and Andy Warhol, I explore the alteration of ‘message’ with time, in particular the period of my own lifetime, through the manipulation and bastardization of mass media.
Despite a love for the Modern Period, I am deeply attracted to primitive art, in particular that of the Cro-Magnons and although their images are forty thousand years old, I believe them to be relevant today. I understand them as originators of what we today call graffiti.
Artist Statement
Feb 2020
My work explores the past in the present, informed by irreverence to, and reconstruction of, modern idols through a number of processes including domestic graffiti. I am inspired by artists who challenge societal beliefs and undermine popular culture in their work. I for example draw on the works of Blek Le Rat and Annette Messager whose practices, whilst very different, both pervert the commonplace on a number of humorous, political and/or critical levels, bending it to their will in order to express their perspectives on life.
I work across the mediums using whatever creative materials I sense are needed for any given piece and I draw on the palette and forms of Chagall, Raoul Dufy, Klee and Kandinsky whose broad use of colour feeds the surreal nature of a world unshackled by gravity. Having spent much of my life as a journalist trapped within the confines of fact, embracing fantasy and play is, for me, immensely liberating and a powerful creative force.
Old toys fascinate me unceasingly. They have the imprimatur of play upon them - the more broken, chipped and worn the better. These icons communicate directly with my sense of play and how this changes across time. They allow me to share the touch of children from the past and resonate with my own journey into adulthood. I use them to create a personal and artistic narrative in 3D dioramas.
The same applies to the use of old magazines and images, especially from the 50s and 60s. Like Sir Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton and Andy Warhol, I explore the alteration of ‘message’ with time, in particular the period of my own lifetime, through the manipulation and bastardization of mass media.
Despite a love for the Modern Period, I am deeply attracted to primitive art, in particular that of the Cro-Magnons and although their images are forty thousand years old, I believe them to be relevant today. I understand them as originators of what we today call graffiti.
Work Experience
LBC Radio
Radio Reporter
1982
- 1983
London, United Kingdom
Sheffield Star Newspaper
Crime reporter
1977
- 1980
Sheffield, United Kingdom
Education
University Of The Arts - London
BA (Hons) Fine Art
Chelsea College of Art as was
September 2006
- June 2010
London, United Kingdom
Working Men's College
Diploma in Art and Design
Working Men's College (WMC), the oldest surviving adult education institute in Europe.
Founded in 1854 and was associated with the Cooperative Movement and the Christian Socialists, stemming, from the same tradition that led later to the Worker's Educational Association. The Working Women's College, founded 10 years later in 1864, finally merged with WMC in 1967. Early supporters of both have included F D Maurice, John Stuart Mill, Tom Hughes, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Ruskin, Ford Maddox Brown, Walter de la Mare and Octavia Hill.
Founded in 1854 and was associated with the Cooperative Movement and the Christian Socialists, stemming, from the same tradition that led later to the Worker's Educational Association. The Working Women's College, founded 10 years later in 1864, finally merged with WMC in 1967. Early supporters of both have included F D Maurice, John Stuart Mill, Tom Hughes, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Ruskin, Ford Maddox Brown, Walter de la Mare and Octavia Hill.
2005
- 2006
Camden Town, United Kingdom
Skills
Conceptual Art,
Creative Writing,
Crime Correspondent,
Documentary Maker,
Illustration,
Inks,
Installations,
Media Training,
Oil Painting,
Political Correspondent,
Presenting On TV & Radio,
Printmaking,
Stained Glass,
War Correspondent,
The Virtual Flying Pig Studio
Whitstable
Kent
07939 250 095
Kent
07939 250 095
Previous Life
I became a journalist when I was just 17, in 1976. My route into the job was a traditional one, no fancy degrees in media studies back then. I won an apprenticeship to The Sheffield Star newspaper in South Yorkshire despite being the worst at spelling out of the group of 300 or so applicants. It didn’t take me long to discover an interest in the underbelly of a big city especially the workings of the local constabulary. I became the ‘leg-man’ for the senior reporter in this field. I loved it. I was eventually given the coveted title of ‘Crime Reporter’ after covering the arrest of the Yorkshire Ripper.
The direction of my career changed when I was invited to apply for a job with a new radio station in Leicester, Centre Radio – now long gone. During this time I covered Pope John Paul's visit to the UK which led to me being head-hunted to take up the post as a senior broadcast journalist for Mercia Sound in Coventry.
I took the job but my sights were firmly set on London. After a few freelance shifts Independent Radio News offered me a contract. So I booked a space on the couch of a mate’s flat in Streatham and headed South. It wasn’t long before the nagging began. I nagged the BBC in to giving me a contract. I blush when I remember that I had a screen-test filmed and sent it to the Head of BBC TV News having never appeared in front of the camera in my life - it worked. They seemed to like my brash approach and a three month contract became a career. I was the youngest national reporter they had ever taken on and one of the very few women.
Once securely ensconced at Broadcasting House I started more nagging, this time to be sent abroad. Again it worked. I have no doubt that the Head of Radio News got so sick of me harassing him that in order to shut me up he sent me to The Falklands just after the war to cover a fire in the hospital that killed a number of civilians and service personnel. It was to be the first of many foreign assignments. My radio career took another turn when the Head of the Radio 4 flagship Today Programme asked me to fill in for Brian Redhead on New Year’s Day. I had become one of the presenting team presenting not only the Today Programme but also the news on Radio 1 and the PM Programme on Radio 4. At 25, I think I was perhaps a bit too bouncy for the audience at that time in the morning.
I was on secondment to BBC TV when in 1987 I was the first, indeed only, reporter to get out to the wreck of The Herald of Free Enterprise. Within hours my camera crew and I, alongside the Kent firemen who had let us travel with them, were on the capsized wreck helping them listen for any survivors trapped inside that might be knocking on the upturned hull. It was after this major scoop that my career in television took off when the team at BBC TV Centre asked me to join them.
During my many years at BBC TV Centre I had a productive and varied career. The BBC gave me exposure to, and experience of a wide range of programmes which allowed me to develop my professional skills and abilities. My experience included six hour-long documentaries pursuing my interest in environmental issues; six months as a ‘reporter’ on a show called Entertainment Express with Selina Scott; a year as a political correspondent in Westminster; working as a war correspondent; presenting the main BBC TV News on BBC 1 & 2. I was also the first Consumer Affairs Correspondent for the BBC.
Unfortunately all this came to an abrupt end when I became seriously ill whilst filming in the godforsaken orphanages of Romania. I developed a viral illness that triggered an auto-immune condition called Systemic Lupus Erythematous, more commonly known as Lupus.
It was a crushing blow. Lupus destroyed the life I had worked so hard to achieve but it opened my eyes to a new world and careers. Firstly, I turned to writing. To date I have had four books published, two on auto-immune conditions: Talking about Lupus & Living with Hughes (Anti-phospholipid) Syndrome, one on the women of the Miners’ Strike: Queen Coal, and one novel: Stella Seed & the Death of a Pornographer.
The other unexpected benefit of being forced off the ‘Magic Roundabout’ that is TV News was the joy of painting. Whist in hospital recuperating from a severe attack of Lupus my daughters lent me their water-colours, I began painting for the first time and haven’t stopped since. Until my recent move to Whitstable, I had a studio with Euroart in Tottenham, North London where I have been as contented as a pig in muck splashing colours on various surfaces and engaging with the visual world around me. In all my years as a journalist and broadcaster, I have never been as happy as when I am in my studio.
The direction of my career changed when I was invited to apply for a job with a new radio station in Leicester, Centre Radio – now long gone. During this time I covered Pope John Paul's visit to the UK which led to me being head-hunted to take up the post as a senior broadcast journalist for Mercia Sound in Coventry.
I took the job but my sights were firmly set on London. After a few freelance shifts Independent Radio News offered me a contract. So I booked a space on the couch of a mate’s flat in Streatham and headed South. It wasn’t long before the nagging began. I nagged the BBC in to giving me a contract. I blush when I remember that I had a screen-test filmed and sent it to the Head of BBC TV News having never appeared in front of the camera in my life - it worked. They seemed to like my brash approach and a three month contract became a career. I was the youngest national reporter they had ever taken on and one of the very few women.
Once securely ensconced at Broadcasting House I started more nagging, this time to be sent abroad. Again it worked. I have no doubt that the Head of Radio News got so sick of me harassing him that in order to shut me up he sent me to The Falklands just after the war to cover a fire in the hospital that killed a number of civilians and service personnel. It was to be the first of many foreign assignments. My radio career took another turn when the Head of the Radio 4 flagship Today Programme asked me to fill in for Brian Redhead on New Year’s Day. I had become one of the presenting team presenting not only the Today Programme but also the news on Radio 1 and the PM Programme on Radio 4. At 25, I think I was perhaps a bit too bouncy for the audience at that time in the morning.
I was on secondment to BBC TV when in 1987 I was the first, indeed only, reporter to get out to the wreck of The Herald of Free Enterprise. Within hours my camera crew and I, alongside the Kent firemen who had let us travel with them, were on the capsized wreck helping them listen for any survivors trapped inside that might be knocking on the upturned hull. It was after this major scoop that my career in television took off when the team at BBC TV Centre asked me to join them.
During my many years at BBC TV Centre I had a productive and varied career. The BBC gave me exposure to, and experience of a wide range of programmes which allowed me to develop my professional skills and abilities. My experience included six hour-long documentaries pursuing my interest in environmental issues; six months as a ‘reporter’ on a show called Entertainment Express with Selina Scott; a year as a political correspondent in Westminster; working as a war correspondent; presenting the main BBC TV News on BBC 1 & 2. I was also the first Consumer Affairs Correspondent for the BBC.
Unfortunately all this came to an abrupt end when I became seriously ill whilst filming in the godforsaken orphanages of Romania. I developed a viral illness that triggered an auto-immune condition called Systemic Lupus Erythematous, more commonly known as Lupus.
It was a crushing blow. Lupus destroyed the life I had worked so hard to achieve but it opened my eyes to a new world and careers. Firstly, I turned to writing. To date I have had four books published, two on auto-immune conditions: Talking about Lupus & Living with Hughes (Anti-phospholipid) Syndrome, one on the women of the Miners’ Strike: Queen Coal, and one novel: Stella Seed & the Death of a Pornographer.
The other unexpected benefit of being forced off the ‘Magic Roundabout’ that is TV News was the joy of painting. Whist in hospital recuperating from a severe attack of Lupus my daughters lent me their water-colours, I began painting for the first time and haven’t stopped since. Until my recent move to Whitstable, I had a studio with Euroart in Tottenham, North London where I have been as contented as a pig in muck splashing colours on various surfaces and engaging with the visual world around me. In all my years as a journalist and broadcaster, I have never been as happy as when I am in my studio.