Welcome

This series illustrates many things for me (pun intended). I began this series in a sort of audition for a book cover that I did not get. 

Illustration I, The Fool, was my first of these illustrations. I spent lots of of time developing this illustration because it was my only submission to this book cover “audition.” I developed many new techniques through this piece. I had never limited myself to black ink on white paper; most of my work has been in vivid color. I found myself using everything from contour line to stipling to cross-hatching to delineate depth, shape, light and shadow, texture and tonal value. I also started to let myself doodle some in the creation of whimsical patterns. Detail became the dominant feature of this budding series. 

I was so surprised to dig into each of the archetypes/characters of the Major Arcana. I had always shrouded the idea of the tarot deck in a mystical ignorance. Come to find out, the tarot deck is on many ways the cast of every great story- of life in fact. So many truths we wrap into our fiction and myth are plainly represented in the Major Arcana. 

Furthermore, as I looked to traditional decks, I found that they all reflected history and specific religious and cultural traditions. It seemed to me that the culture of the world today requests a reimagined deck. I felt that a deck that represented an array of diverse religious and cultural traditions and challenged some aspects of gender roles represented in the traditional decks was called for. What an interesting opportunity for me. 

Some of these illustrations represent nothing more than the workings of my imagination. Card II, The Magician, is one of those. Cards like this one provide an interesting opportunity to reimagine the world as we would like it to be- aesthetically and otherwise. The cards in the deck that asked more of my imagination I’d typify as whimsical and a playful balance of light and dark. The Devil, the Hanged Man, and many others fit into this category. 

Other cards, such as Card III, the High Priestess, provided an entirely different opportunity for me to culturally challenge the traditional (most commonly Catholic) representations of the past. In the High Priestess illustration I represented an Egyptian woman with three faces and referencing the Shiva of the Five Faces). Representing such a high archetype as a female artist gave me a wonderful opportunity to rifle through history and culture to re-paint the High Priestess and others with some of the richest cultural traditions as symbolism from across the globe and across time.

A few themes from this deck as I alluded to are a new view of cultural diversity and a new view of womanhood and sexuality. Visually this deck is also a departure from the original deck in that it does not use color, does not adhere to one visual or cultural tradition and is far more detail intensive. My original inspiration for the visuals came from Art Deco and nouveau illustration (specifically Harry Clarke’s illustrations of Edgar Allen Poe)- including elongation of lines, liberties taken with the figure and whimsical pattern. 

The differences in the way that I have chosen to address femininity, culture, religion and sexuality are perhaps best left to personal interpretation by the viewer of the deck in contrast to the original Rider-Waite deck. However, some of the points may bear elaboration, which I will do here. 

In several of the cards and traditional decks, I got a sense of femininity being sort of cloaked, sexuality being shameful, and the chaotic feminine associated with wiles, temptation, etc. I have recently studied Eastern religions and have been particularly taken with some of the undertones of the view of women. The feral woman- in the sense of mate and mother- is acknowledged and celebrated. In many Hindu temples, there are sculptures: beautiful, nude, voluptuous female sentinels guarding the outside of the temples. There are female goddesses that illuminate this nature. Calypso, Venus, Aphrodite, Athena… These are some of the most familiar names of the goddesses. From Egypt to tribal pantheons worldwide, the chaotic and feral feminine is feared, loved, protected and adored. In many traditions, however, the feminine is artificially tamed and sterilized. Ironically, we (women) are less powerful and less beloved in this state. Female ferocity is entirely like male ferocity in that it is better to be matured and channeled than it is to be eliminated or crushed. This is a personal subject of study and an ongoing theme in my works. I believe that many women are wolves, birds of prey… That we thrive in tribes, howling over our loved ones, mates and young. I further believe that when we do not howl and fly, we become destructive chaos- pernicious and unhealthy. I believe sexual choice and pride to play a role in our ability to live in harmony with our feral selves. I don’t mean to say that I think overt sexuality or open relationship is a solution to what ails woman; rather that freedom of choice and honoring our deep and chaotic feminine natures allows us to wisely choose our mates of our own accord. I do not propose to have all the answers for woman, culture or the female spirit by any means; I only have to challenge the “perfect” and contained, victims way in which many women have been trained and have chosen to view themselves. We are archetypical mothers, warriors, hunters and fighters, and it behooves us to acknowledge and live in that power. So the female figures that you see in this deck were created in that spirit. 

If the deck is intended to be universal, there is almost no way to represent every culture and minority in one deck, but I did make an effort. This deck alludes to aboriginal art (Polynesian, African and Australian), Native American art, Hindu art, Buddhist art, Egyptian art and more. This deck also represents a wide array of visual eras- favoring Art Deco and art Nouveau. Our modern world is a beautiful melting pot- an increasingly global community. It is my sincere hope that in that we still continue to honor, celebrate and delineate our diverse and rich cultures- rather than dissolving them. This deck is a celebration of that diversity. 

This deck in many specific instances openly addresses sexuality with a more open, arguably more pagan tone. In my studies of world religions, I have been fascinated to discover widely carried views of sexuality and reproduction. Having grown up within the Christian tradition myself, I found it revolutionary that fertility goddesses and phallic statues were in fact sacred totems of other cultures. Oddly, the Bible does celebrate sexuality and reproduction; Song of Songs being my personal favorite illustration. Somehow in trying to create Biblical culture, there seems to have been a strange and taboo relationship develop with sexuality. We avoid the discussion, we shroud it in ignorance and shame… In so doing I think that we feed perverse relationships to sexuality. At the very least we create a difficult climate to have a healthy, well informed view of the issue. I think that a more open, reverent, honest discussion ongoing around the issue would better us all. So this deck is more open and direct toward that issue; many of the characters do allude to the fertility totems mentioned. 

The tones in this deck surrounding gender also bring my thoughts on another hot topic of our time to bear. In my studies of history, culture, human nature and current events- have come to the developing conviction male and female are both deep, real and powerful orientations. I believe that all people have masculine and feminine traits. I believe that we all have a true nature that we function best in deep harmony with; for some people hearing this voice is an easier journey than others. I believe that the deep masculine and feminine form a perfect, unbreakable yin-yang with each other. This can take shape in relationship between people or within oneself. Every trait needs a complement- an inverse and a balance. Many characters in this deck are loudly and archetypal feminine, many are masculine, and many are androgynous. This is intentional, and I believe it truthfully reflects our world.

As with all of my works, I hope to provoke thought, dialogue, and engagement more than I hope for assent, praise and attention. These works are carefully considered thoughts that I sincerely hope are worth considering and challenging. My work is a reflective fact-finding mission more than it is a search for fame or anything like. Feel free and invited to share your thoughts.