The powerful RTÉ documentary Investigates Domestic Abuse, A Year Of Crisis examines the impact of rising levels of domestic abuse in Ireland over the past year. Domestic violence survivors, many of whom are speaking out publicly for the very first time, describe the devastating consequences of domestic violence – watch them here.

The film makes powerful use of a series of illustrations by artist Ann Kiernan – below Ann talks about her involvement in the project.

The year 2021 has seen a 40% increase in the number of people contacting the Domestic Violence Helpline. #RTEsurvey spent time at a number of shelters across the country to hear from those who have experienced domestic violence.

Domestic violence, a year of crisis. Tonight at 9:35 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Nt2pXpu9yD

– RTE One (@RTEOne) February 7, 2022

At the end of September, an email fell into my inbox from David Doran, the producer of RTE investigationwith a brief preview of the documentary that would become A year of crisis – we organized a call and realized we were very quickly on the same page about how these animated segments looked.

Upon receiving the first audio recordings of the stories of the women interviewed for the documentary, I immediately identified with their stories – recognizing the shame they were talking about and how their world became smaller as they felt more isolated in their situation. Because I only worked with audio files, the brutality of the trauma was visceral.

Having gone through a similar growth, I was quite shocked at the lack of resources for shelter and justice as I became more involved in the production. Much of domestic violence is the tension, the constant threat, the silent control that is more insidious than the typical perception of physical abuse. The psychological shadows remain even when the perpetrators are gone.

This is why using this particular influx technique really works. The ink has an organic way of moving through the water and by using a clean palette of black and red ink and simple shapes it creates an oppressive and menacing atmosphere. Typically when I do an illustration I have to work quickly, usually delivering the final image within 48 hours, but since this project required more planning, I took a different approach. There was more attention to how the ink would flow, for example, and in which direction.

The rawness of the trauma was visceral.

The filming aspect is a completely different level of work, and I was lucky to have the right person to work with – Brenda Fingleton, originally from Co. Laois, has had some experience coordinating productions and knows his way around a camera. This meant that I could concentrate entirely on making the illustrations.

The stories and voices of women were constantly on my mind during the project, the trauma was palpable, and it was important to me to make illustrations that not only conveyed the darkness of their experiences but also their strength. My inspiration for doing work like this starts at a very basic level of fairness and an interest in social justice. Drawing from my own experience, it pushes me to explore my practice on a deeply emotional level, bringing out the rage of injustice and expressing it on the page. The illustrations I create are not necessarily complex or conceptual. They often include only three elements. They are made to elicit a reaction.

Illustration offers a medium emancipated from reality with its objects, shapes and colors. They have the power to personify or abstract, and represent emotions in fluid and sometimes beautiful ways. The beauty of illustration is that it allows for interpretation and can speak to emotions.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this article, you can find help at rte.ie/helplines.