LUCY McLAUCHLAN

SELF-SUSTAINING ANARCHO-PACIFIST OPEN HOUSE - est.1967

I was invited by Gee Vaucher to spend a couple of weeks at Dial House ‘to look over the edge’. This cottage holds a strength and voice, powered by its guardians and the creations built there. Time and space is a rare gift. Sheltered under the trees, a heavy duvet and tin pan. Only chore is to hose yourself down once in a while, remember to eat, turn in when the light starts to fade. A chance to take a step closer.

Lucy McLauchlan - Dial House (2019)

During this time a book of linocut and verse was created - a personal response to Dial House, gifted to Gee Vaucher and Penny Rimbaud. The original remains there, whilst a published version (Exitstencil Press 2022) was released alongside the collection of linocuts.

Hidden within the Essex countryside Dial House is a self-sustaining, anarchist-pacifist open house (since 1967) the base for a number of cultural, artistic and political projects and home of the anarcho-punk band Crass.

Exhibition & book launch: Print Matters at Supersonic Festival / Centrala (07/2022) - celebrating the power of DIY publishing with Black Lodge Press, Foka Wolf, Gee Vaucher, Dope Magazine, La Linterna.
Stockists: Exitstencil Press / Centrala Birmingham

Lucy came to Dial House to work, and so she did, plucking at visual inspiration that surrounds and makes up this place. Watching Lucy work, I was struck by her hands, by their refinement and delicacy. I found them fascinating and remarkable considering the strength needed for the work she creates. I suspect that she doesn’t garden much, gardening being the best way to lose all delicacy. Mine are a mess and would outdo the average labourer’s hands. I should have filmed her deftly working away on the lino cuts you will see in this book; fast, accurate, considered and beautiful in their making, but I only have this one photo. Even though, I think it says it all. The point of this observation? Never assume or underestimate a woman with delicate hands, their power or their ability to give a strong punch.

Gee Vaucher - excerpt from Dial House book (2022)