We're making a Tarot Deck!
The Star
Why Tarot?
It goes without saying that Jim and I are very visual people. I’m actually surprised that it took us this long to connect our paintings to the Tarot. As strong believers in Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious and the power of archetypes, our paintings consistently feature elements that we pull from that collective well into our own imagination and transfer to the canvas or panel. We have always done this very instinctually, seldom consciously deciding to use an element because we wanted to symbolize something in particular, but rather letting the images flow naturally because they felt right. Interpretation came later, after some distance from the creation of the piece, like a kind of dream analysis.
Our paintings share something in common with the tarot cards. When people look at them they make connections based on who they are and what’s going on in their lives at that specific moment in time. The combination and composition of the elements and objects in the painting trigger a need in people to make meaning. This meaning is drawn not only from their personal experiences and who they are but also from that great well of shared experience – the collective unconscious.
When we’re successful, this creates connections between the viewer and the painting and us, the artists. We have called this a dialog, not a monologue. We’re not talking at you, telling you what the story is, we’re giving you a jumping off point to tell your story.
We’ve noticed for years that when couples have approached our paintings, one person has one reaction and the other may have a totally different one – which of course sparks a dialog between them (and sometimes an argument) and then we also get pulled into the conversation. Our response, if they are looking for arbitration, is always “you’re both right”. Everything needs to be understood in context.
My interest in tarot has gone back years, to my early twenties – fascinated by the little stories in each of the minor arcana and the sometimes comforting and sometimes frightening images in the major arcana. We have actually used the cards as painting prompts to get our imaginations activated, but we never thought to actually paint the cards themselves.
Into the Woods
