Inspired by loss within my at the hands of The British State violence in Ireland and the intergenerational trauma left with as a result. Bernadette was my great Aunt. On the day of her first Holy Communion she went out to play on her new bicycle, she never came home. She was shot in the forehead by The Black and Tan Troops, who were sent to Ireland by Winston Churchill. This shoe tells her story. The shoes are children's Holy Communion shoes- similar to the style she was wearing on that day. One shoe, is pure, fresh and innocent to depict her gentle childlike spirit on what should have been the most Holy and peaceful of days. The other shoe depicts what her fate was that day. The juxtaposition of each shoe is to show not only her story but the story of every other innocent child caught in conflict and war. Harnessing Intergnerational trauma into this visual depiction, in order to raise discourse on the injustice the British state has left in Ireland.
'Bernadette'
Children's Holy Communion shoes, depicting British State Violence against Irish Catholics
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