About

Sensitive, Shy, and a bit Strange…

Sommer Raynei Henderson was born and raised in the humid concrete jungle that is Houston, TX. Growing up during the popularization of the internet and the height of media, she often questioned her reality and inquired about how she was perceived in the world. With innumerable outside sources telling her who she was or was supposed to be, solely based off her gender and race, she deeply struggled to see and love herself genuinely. She spent her youth dancing inside her soul and trying to understand who she was by experimenting with her physical body. She became a chameleon and a human canvas; shapeshifting and reimagining herself and her reality in order to rediscover and redefine herself. She dove into her many interests and engrossed herself in punk culture, holistic care, makeup, theatre, dance, and art; these are just a few of the ingredients that have made her into the woman she is today. 

In 2017 she began studying Studio Art with a concentration in Painting at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. A year later she changed her concentration to Ceramics when she realized just how much she loves squishing clay between her fingers. As her passions grew in ceramics, she discovered how she could connect to her African roots through the art form. Inspired by the uses of clay in Africa, she felt like she found a missing link that helped her feel closer to her ancestors. This enriched her experience with clay and informed the work she made on a more intimate level by pushing her to unravel and understand her cultural relationship with clay.                                           Having many passions, Sommer Raynei explores visual/digital art, photography, dance, and performance. She works with many mediums and materials to explore physical, emotional, cultural, philosophical, conceptual, and metaphorical depth. Though her current body of work stems from her disconnection from her African heritage and the African diaspora, her work is intrinsically a reflection and contemplation of her own existence and how that relates to the current zeitgeist. She is deeply moved and interested in how this moment irrevocably relates to the past in a myriad of ways, which are always in a state of flux with the present moment.

She graduated from Texas State University with a BFA in Ceramics and a minor in Philosophy in May 2022. She is now learning the art of Piercing at One and Only Tattoo and Piercing Shop.

She attributes much of her artistic spirit to her grandmothers, who even in their sickness, found ways to bring magic into this world. 

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Note:

The heart of the sun is made from pure hydrogen; it burns at an unimaginable 27 million degrees Fahrenheit and is the source of the sun’s power. A process called Nuclear Fusion occurs in the core—billion upon billion hydrogen atoms that make up the core are subjected to intense pressure that pushes individual atoms together to create a new element, helium. This complex synthesis makes the sun what it is, so you could say that the core of the sun is the true sun… The core is what gives life to all the exterior layers of the sun, which are always in synch and responding to its heart.

What is your core? What drives you, what fuels you……what keeps you here?

One day the core of the sun will run out of fuel; it is projected to burn out in about 5 billion years. When the sun dies, nuclear fusion (a force that pushes outwards) will no longer occur in the core, so it will be susceptible to the forces of gravity (A force that pushes inwards). The immense pressure from gravity will cause the sun to shrink into a “white dwarf,” and all the other layers of the sun will dissipate into a planetary nebula of gas and dust. This gas and dust will travel through the galactic skies and become part of the makings of another star.

Human life is mere seconds compared to the lifespan of our sun and the many other stars encompassing our galaxy and the vast universe. With all this time ticking away, I want to make something out of this life; and like the dust and gas that stars leave behind when they die, I too want to leave pieces of myself and of my heart when I am gone—my art and my poetry is what will stay here, hopefully, inspiring and motivating others to see and live their lives creatively and introspectively.

Heart of the Solis is a reminder for me to remember my core, what drives me, and to stay in tune with my passions—no matter where I go or what I do, my art and my poetry will follow.