Emily O’Connell, and then I ran

and then I ran

and then I ran employs self-portraiture, image and text, visualising the narrative of my grandmother’s recollection of escaping a mother and baby home, 1964, Ireland. Mother and baby homes were run for over 200 years, funded by the government and run by a religious order. These homes forced unwed mothers into secrecy while neglecting to provide adequate care for mothers and babies. The project explores Ireland’s deep shame culminating from the separation and exportation of babies, as well as the oppressive conditions experienced by these women. 

The work has three elements interlaced throughout. Black and white images are performative reenactments referring to the artist’s grandmother’s escape and a visual representation of loss. The colour landscape imagery brings the viewer to a specific landscape or still life to revisit a memory. Repetition lies throughout the work to nod to Freudian theories of “repetition compulsion” caused by trauma, a cycle in which you enact content that has been suppressed, repeating instead of remembering. The mixture of the three elements sits between the current day and history, going back in time to discuss ideas of freedom, distress, and confinement. The work discusses the oppressive conditions and psychological maltreatment experienced by women in Ireland. From 1922 until 1998, around 56,000 women and 57,000 children were placed into these homes. 

The work uses different photographic techniques, such as long exposure, to create blur and distortion as a nod to the loss of identity that these women had to go through. In certain homes, such as the one Emi’s grandmother Muriel was admitted into, a practice whereby women were compelled to change their names was common. This was associated with the shame of giving birth and intended to diminish personal identity. Muriel had to adopt the name “Bernadette”, like many others who were named after female saints. 

The artist chose not to show her face in the self-portraits as she was re-enacting her grandmother’s story, while asking further questions regarding the loss of identity women experienced throughout history.

Emily O’Connell

Emily O’Connell‘s work focuses on equality and women’s health with a particular interest in phototherapy and using visual arts as a way to sensitively approach topics of trauma. She uses re-enactment and self-portraiture, as well as a research-based practice mixing documentary photography and performative elements throughout her work. O’Connell’s work has recently been exhibited at Peckham 24, Photo London, and was one of the Photo-book winners at Belfast Photo 2024.

Emily O’Connell, and then I ran
New Irish Works series 2025–27
Launch 6pm Thu 14 May 2026
Running 15 May–9 August 2026
At the International Centre for the Image