Aislyn Stevens

Aunty Helen's Bloody Sunday

Bachelor of Visual Arts Photography Political Storytelling Documentary
Loughconolly, Silk Fabric, 84cm x 140cm, Photo credit: Stefan Marks
AD20 Award
Visual Arts Studio Award
For Year 3 Studio

Aunty Helen's Bloody Sunday

My family comes from Northern Ireland; they experienced first-hand the historical conflict—known as The Troubles (1968-98)—between British unionists and Irish nationalists.  The Troubles was a thirty-year war that was fuelled by underlying conflicts concerning religion and politics that stemmed from British colonisation of Ireland.  I feel connected to this history because of my family and the stories and experiences they’ve shared with me.

Aunty Helen’s Bloody Sunday reworks archival press photographs (sourced from Google) taken during The Troubles.  I’ve stitched directly onto these images, adding in my family’s personal stories of what life was like during this time.  I was meant to visit Ireland this year to see family, but due to Covid-19 was unable to.  As a result, I’ve been having a series of Face-Time sessions with my Aunty Helen.  During our conversations, she has been telling me about some of her memories and stories from this time of unrest — from talking with Helen, I’ve realised what it is like to live with the weight of an unresolved past.

Aunty Helen’s Bloody Sunday (2020)

My family comes from Northern Ireland; they experienced first-hand the historical conflict—known as The Troubles (1968-98)—between British unionists and Irish nationalists.  The Troubles was a thirty-year war that was fuelled by underlying conflicts concerning religion and politics that stemmed from the British colonisation of Ireland. Over 3,600 people died, and tens of thousands suffered physical, psychological, and emotional injury as a result of intercommunal, paramilitary, and state violence.[1]

Aunty Helen’s Bloody Sunday considers the role of storytelling within families and aims to develop a deeper connection to my Irish heritage through the sharing of experiences. This is a history I feel strongly connected to because of the stories and experiences my family have shared with me.  Reworking archival press photographs (sourced from Google) taken during the time of The Troubles, I have stitched directly onto these images, adding in my family’s personal narratives of what life was like during this time.  I was meant to visit Ireland this year to see family, but due to Covid-19 was unable to.  As a result, I’ve been having a series of Face-Time sessions with my Aunty Helen - during our conversations, she has been telling me about some of her memories from that time of unrest. From talking with Helen, I’ve learned what it is like to live with the weight of an unresolved past.

Loughconolly is a silk fabric that contains a collection of family images taken over the thirty-year period of The Troubles. During the time of The Troubles, my family in Northern Ireland did not take any photographs due to how unsettling life was. I went through old family photograph albums to find images that captured my Mother's life here in Aotearoa, New Zealand and my Fathers in Whitley Bay, England to show the contrast of how different their lives were compared to my family in Ireland.

Caring for my families’ stories has been an important factor in making this work; I have asked myself what information should be shared and what information should be kept private? An important aspect of this work along with the care for my families’ stories are the ethics surrounding my treatment of archival imagery. Due to the borrowed nature of these photographs, I have been conscious of how I use them. The words and phrases that accompany the images have been selected because of their relationships. I felt that the stories my family shared related to what the photographs depicted was going on at the time.

In the archival images involving children, I have used red stitching to censor their faces. I believe, due to how recent these events were, and because I can't gain their consent, that this act of stitching was a compromise as they are most likely still dealing with the trauma of these times. I hope that by taking these steps to care for archival images in a respectful way is considerate to the lives of those impacted by The Troubles. I’ve seen first-hand how this history has continued to affect those I care about.