Love Not
Suicide
(A tribute to the drawings and work of my
brother, Thomas Somerson)
Pointlessness was a concept/quality my brother had investigated near the end of his life. Existence was almost without meaning for him. He dismissed it with uniquely dry comments, statements that I at first did not understand. It was only as time passed that I realised what Tom had meant and had laughed out aloud. In the final moments, my comprehension came to late, as to what he had truly revealed.
Love Not Suicide, a title that I believe is a self explanatory plea, contains a collection of drawings that he referred to as his infra-cartoons – works whose meaning contradicts the viewer’s initial pre-perception of humorous sketches – the expectation of immediate laughter. These pieces, designed to appeal to a deeper, oblique intelligence, should be given time before illumination takes place. My brother identified with these circumstances, as his problems were not given time and time eventually ran out for him – as did our deep loving and complex relationship – opposed by narrow family and societal concerns.
The distance that he felt between himself and reality/society in general, made him seek solace (when I was not around) in inanimate objects as a form of protest. This situation is explored in two works – No7 and No8, where the protagonist (not a self portrait) makes love to a washing machine and a cooker. I believe that at this point (these were his last two drawings) his tragic journey had been completed. His relationships with machines could only end in tragedy. Metal is an unforgiving mistress.
This distance can be summed up in Tom’s favourite line in literature - one of the closing phrases of the book, Marius The Epicurean by Walter Pater:
A strange lonesomeness, like physical
darkness seemed to settle on the thought of it; as if the business hereafter
must be, as far as he was concerned, carried on in some inhabited but distant alien star.
I believe his story lies with these works – found in his folder; cradled in his arms. He was 19.
Zoe Somerson
In line with what I believe would have been Tom’s wishes, I will be adding to this site. I believe that in bringing his work to a wider audience, his life would not have been so wasted.
Contact: mailto:zoe
Thank you to
Sophie Hameel for helping me create this website. Stay with the soul, girl !
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