Duality in Divinity - In Progress

Project Artist Statement

I hardly understood the idea of tarot when I was first introduced to it by a friend. She let me browse her cards while explaining the ideas of introspection and spiritual reflection as I leafed through the deck. What shocked me the most was the blatant use of religious symbology throughout the whole deck, across the entire ‘Fool’s Journey’. Up to this point, I had only ever heard the idea of tarot described in an occult, heretical way in the same vein as a fire and brimstone mindset might preach. The more I looked into the ideas behind tarot the more I saw the other mythologies and religions that exist around the world displayed in similar or parallel ways and I began to imagine a deck all its own that could show that, a deck where each card could depict a different culture or mythos. This series of works is the newer rendition of that idea, created and housed in a way to more blatantly show the metaphors and stories behind each tarot card as created for the popular Rider-Waite tarot deck. Spirituality is an incredibly individual experience, religion being so deeply personal yet derived from the same source. To best represent that, I aimed to create something respectfully reverent yet with an irreverent objectivity to place each card and culture depicted on equal standing. By making it interactive through the web, I want to invite others to break down each piece into digestible components to walk through the spiritual introspection afforded by tarot and religions alike. In this way, the series can humanize tarot through the perspective of the human experience.

Thematic Significations

The signification and themes I want to convey with my work pertain to the preconception and biases against foreign cultures and religions that people often hold.

We are naturally inclined to believe ourselves, our experiences, or preconceived notions of the world around us as truth over anyone else’s, leading to misunderstandings and feelings of prejudice against another. We are influenced by the opinions of the world at large both consciously and unconsciously, affecting the way we perceive and form opinions.

Similar to the way modern cultures view the beliefs of antiquity as absurdities and nonsensical in many regards, there are many who struggle to understand the beliefs, mythos, or cultures of others. However, when viewed through an objective lens, myths by nature rely on significations to convey their meaning and value through archetypes and recognizable aspects of the human experience. In this way, the aspects of the Tarot journey and the details incorporated can easily be used to instead signify the values and mythos of religions.

Themes Simplified

The theme of the work is to address biases against foreign cultures and religions, which arise due to our tendency to believe in our own experiences and preconceptions.

• The opinions of the world at large affect our perception and lead to misunderstandings.

• Myths convey meaning and values through archetypes and recognizable aspects of human experience, making it easier to understand the values and mythos of other religions.

• Intricate and complex signifiers/signification exist in mythos worldwide that are similar to one another.

• Tarot holds intricacies and details that relate to the human experience and various cultural mythos.

Project Summary

The project became an interactive site focused on informing viewers equally on the reality of traditional tarot and the uniquely created version of a tarot deck style illustrations using various religious and mythical motifs.

Each page acts as a reflection between the typically occult view of tarot and the religious motifs and aspects present in the symbolism of tarot. As such, each page in the site has a mirrored version of it that can be seen. The toggle switch in the navigation has a dependent link to each pages reflection.

Project Development