The nation’s 42 past presidents are up for election in Iowa, vying with First Wives and other historical political figures for the favorite among library patrons.The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa, is featuring the work of Arizona artist Tina Mion, who has created a set of playing cards featuring the past executive officials of the United States.Breaking away from traditional, formal portraits of the presidents, Mion portrayed the nation’s leaders symbolically, with each detail representing an aspect of the person or the times of his administration, she said.”What I’m trying to do is portray them as different from how they are normally portrayed,” she said. “They’re always pictured stiff and remote from typical human beings. My portraits concentrate on the personalities and the era in which the presidents served. It gives them a much more personal touch.”The portraits have been displayed in several presidential museums since they were completed in 1996, Mion said. The unconventional pictures of the leaders have sparked controversy among some patrons, she said.”Anytime you do something like this, you’re going to have a wide range of feelings,” Mion said. “Nobody’s neutral, and I’m not without my own opinions.”Janlyn Ewald, public affairs coordinator for the Hoover library, said most people have said the paintings are “interesting or unusual,” but few have expressed offense.”I think one visitor was offended by the [John F.] Kennedy picture,” Ewald said. “I think a lot of people don’t understand the art. It’s easier to understand it if you talk with Tina and she explains the portraits.”JFK’s portrait, Mion said, is among the most popular and controversial. She painted the president as the King of Hearts, but added a bullet ripping through the card. Where a normal card depicts a sword, Mion has added a second to represent the conspiracy theory of the second bullet at Kennedy’s assassination, she said.”It’s called stop-action assassination,” Mion said. “Every single thing I do — every color, every border — has something to do with the personality.”In 1994, Mion and a group of friends in Los Angeles, Calif., where she was living at the time, decided to create a work of art every Sunday for a year. Although her friends soon abandoned the project, Mion spent every Sunday for the next two years painting. Although it took her two years — twice as long as she had planned — her portraits were complete in time for the presidential election of 1996.Library patrons may vote for their favorite portrait — with Mion running on the joker ticket — which she said is symbolic in itself.”When you vote in elections, do you vote for the candidate who you think has accomplished the most, or do you vote for the one who paints the best picture of himself?” she asked.Mion’s art will be on display at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum until March 25, Ewald said.”This is a way to connect Americans to their history, because it’s such a fascinating history that affects us all,” she said. “It’s a fun and quirky way to do it that gets people asking questions.”