Essie Somma Exhibit
Undomesticated
In June our Vault Gallery will feature original paintings by Essie Somma.
Undomesticated will include a series of paintings and one video installation exploring identity in flux. Depicting domestic space, mundane ritual, and emblems of Americana, the work seeks to destabilize our expectations of the feminine. Figures are fragmented to maintain their agency and allow for subjectivity, while boundaries between human and non-human, inside and outside, and chaos and order are blurred, presenting a version of reality that is itself adaptable, intuitive, mischievous, and resilient.
Grounded in feminist theory, Jungian psychoanalysis, and contemporary visual culture, Essie's work explores the Trickster as a shapeshifting feminine archetype operating within liminal space. Through oil painting, magical realism, and performative gesture, s investigates the construction of femininity as adaptive, unstable, and socially produced.
Exhibition Dates + Artist Info
Undomesticated will be on display in the Vault Gallery June 5-27, 2026.
There will be an opening reception on Friday, June 5 from 6pm to 8pm, where visitors can meet Essie and view her work. The opening reception is during downtown Manteo's First Friday festivities and is free and open to the public.
Essie Somma is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, collage, writing, and live performance. She holds a BA in Art from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Certificate in Art and Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art London, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking at the University of Florida. Essie has exhibited internationally and participated in artist residencies across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, creating work that resists fixed identities and embraces hybridity as a form of liberation.