How We Live: Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov

Hailing from Ireland and Ukraine, respectively, Mahony and Ukolov have called Prague home since the early 2000’s. Both came to the city to “reinvent themselves” and met through a mutual friend shortly after that. Before becoming a couple, the two began working together; Mahony has a background in design and Ukolov in design and illustration. Today, married, they have a successful business that’s as unique as their home – through Baba Studio, which they founded in 2002, the duo designs and produces tarot card decks, books, bags, pillows, purses, dolls, and clothing, in a style they describe as ‘modern baroque’.

Of their eclectic décor, which in several spots is set up in compelling tableaus, and has mostly been acquired in Prague’s bazars, antique shops, flea markets, and on Aukro (Ukolov says he is a regular), Mahony tells us, “Pretty much everything is used for work.” “It’s old props,” says Ukolov. (All the images on their merchandise have been photographed and then illustrated by Ukolov. They make all the clothing worn by the various featured characters and set up the worlds they inhabit.)

On top of one cabinet in their workroom, they have a wooden horse (acquired at a flea market just outside Prague in Buštěhradand featured in one of their cards), which is joined by a hanging, hand carved wooden puppet. Just above is a painting that Mahony says is one personal piece she brings with her no matter where she goes, “It was made by a woman who was a kind of substitute mother for me in England [Mahony’s family moved to England when she was quite young]. One of the figures is supposed to be me.”

Other pieces that catch my eye are a small rounded, white ceramic piece with a yellow background above the entryway to the dining room, a picture of a cat shooting a bow and arrow by Ukolov’s desk (It was used for one of their calendars. Their cats are the models for all the merchandise featuring felines), some Art Nouveau leather panels, a wooden boat above their china cabinet, which is filled with cups and saucers in ceramic and glass (the cabinet came with the flat as did the majority of their furniture, with some exceptions including two ornate Milanese chairs from the early 1600’s), and a small wooden box with a folk flower motif, which was sent to them from a client based in Maine. Ukolov opens it to reveal numerous tiny wooden masked faces.

Mahony and Ukolov have always lived in the Hradčany and Malá Strana area. Their previous flat, the second of the three they’ve called home in Prague, was on Uvoz. Of living in their current location, Ukolov says its “fantastic”. Mahony also expresses her appreciation, but reminisces about the past when the area was full of older, interesting people who they often met. “There used to be an old woman who fed cats. She’s vanished”, says Mahony. “I don’t like how it’s changed.” She also comments on what it’s like living in a heavily visited area. “It’s funny in the mornings. We open the door [the smaller door within the large door at their building’s entrance] and there are the tourists with their cameras,” she says. “It’s like the movie Notting Hill.”