This work is made from extracts of correspondence between Irish female emigrants and the social workers who supported them in London in the late 1970s. In these letters held in...
This work is made from extracts of correspondence between Irish female emigrants and the social workers who supported them in London in the late 1970s. In these letters held in the Archive of the Irish in Britain (Special Collections, Metropolitan University) the hopes and hardships of women are laid bare alongside the material and emotional support offered by the social workers.
By layering their words and fragments of sentences traces of the much bigger story of the large numbers of women who transformed their lives during the many waves of Irish emigration are revealed. Women had to leave Ireland to escape economic and personal challenges. Despite established networks and chain migration it's surprising how naïve many were and how often they were alone. The missing pieces of text allow the viewer to reflect on the complexity, fragility and vulnerability of their cumulative experiences that likely remains resonant with contemporary emigrant experiences.
The titling in neon contrasts with the words on paper layered into a solitary female form and draws attention to women who took a leap of faith, hoping for a better life in the bright lights of London. Simultaneously this work is defiant and vulnerable.