Margaret Mitchell: Six Works

Across three bodies of work, Margaret Mitchell documented the lives of her sister Andrea’s children from childhood to adulthood. This series of six works, acquired by the University of Stirling's Art Collection in 2023, focus on Mitchell's nephew Steven, offering an insight into his life’s trajectory. These images follow Steven from a childhood in the Raploch (Family, 1994) to his adult life in St Ninians (In This Place 2015-2017), to an image of him back in his childhood locale (Into Absence, 2017-2020).

Across the three bodies of work, Mitchell reflects on both personal and political questions, asking the viewer to consider the nature of disadvantage and privilege in a history covering class, opportunity and inequality. For Mitchell, the personal narrative of Steven’s path in life reflects a universal issue; whilst this is a personal journey of one boy into man, versions of this story and situation are repeated across countless individuals and societies.

“I want the viewer to ask themselves a question about how society operates, how choice is related to opportunity and environment. To see that sometimes people choose what they do because really, not much has been offered in the first place.”