So what’s in a name? “What’s in a title” is more apt for Heather Sommers’ witty political photographs. Titles such as “Tweet Tweet,” of a sculpted centaur with President Trump’s head has birds sitting, and leaving droppings all over its back — a tongue-in-cheek reference to the “breaking news” of Trump’s frequent Tweets.
She strongly feels the need to speak out about the health and welfare of our society “using my artistic voice to express concerns with issues in our country. I feel like there are times when artists should really step forward and make some kind of record of what they think is happening. I felt it imperative to share an alarm about my perception of threats to our American democracy. Being an artist and foremost a sculptor, my chronicle is recorded in pictures, not words. I began my ‘Centaur Chronicle’ in January 2017, after the Inauguration speech by our 45th president, Donald Trump.”
Why centaurs, I queried? Sommers replies, “Well, first of all, I do animals very well. And also, a centaur is a mythological being, half man and half horse, who has a conflict with his raw instincts and civilized behavior. It’s been an interesting and rewarding challenge morphing sculpture into cartoon in print format.”
Sommers’ works are not children’s cartoons, though, but rather fascinating artistic conceits that come from a moment of inspiration, mastery in clay, and ability to work with others to add color and background images to the photograph for expressive political statements — with twists that make you smile.
In “It’s Our Party (Cry If You Want To)” there are three elephant band members morphing into the centaur’s body and tooting their own horns, so to speak. Sommers says she did “this piece before the House was reclaimed by the Democrats. To me there has been this attitude of ‘Too bad. It’s our party, we’re doing exactly what we want.’”
There’s a similar irreverent tone in “The Perfect Storm,” where the U.S. Capital is sinking off the centaur’s backside, and the president is turned around seemingly saying so long and good riddance. “I did this early on with the current administration, when there was just so much chaos in the White House. People coming and people going,” Sommers said. “I thought, ‘This is the ship of state going down.’”
Other pieces among the 16 in her exhibit are “Bring It On,” which speaks to climate change. Here, Sommers says of her centaur, “I had the idea of the globe [in his hands] melting as an ice cream cone, and him with this attitude of ‘Just let it happen.’ I had a lot of fun with it.” And the president clearly appears as Pinocchio in “Head of State/State of Head.” Sommers tells me, “I’ve just been appalled at how easy lying is. His nose is growing and growing.”
One of her first decisions is whether to keep the clay sculpture plain white or to add color. After allowing the pieces to dry, she fires them in a kiln and then has them professionally photographed. Next the image is positioned in a color print and embellished in some way, using Photoshop. Sommers reflects, “The resulting image is a bit like a poster.”
“I’m very much still interested in the sculpting part itself and having fun with it,” the artist says. “And experimenting with textures while at the same time try to get a story across.” Sommers is undoubtedly the mastermind behind her cheeky artworks, but is quick to give credit to others who are part of the process of progressing her sculptures to print form: Photoshop assistant and rising senior at MVRHS Davin Tackabury, graphic designer Allison Simon, photographers Stephen Baumback and Gary Miranda, and printer Jeffrey Serusa.
“Throughout history, artists and craftsmen have recorded upheavals in civilization through monuments, stone carvings, bas-relief, paintings, photographs, etc. We are valuable chroniclers. It is vital that this legacy continue. I wanted to speak up. It’s like the king’s new clothes. Nobody is saying the king isn’t wearing clothes.”
Well, actually, somebody is — Sommers herself.
“Centaur Chronicles” runs through August 2 at the Chilmark library. Sommers will also bring some of her sculptures from the prints to the opening on Saturday, July 20, from 2:30 to 4:30 pm.