THE TAROT SERIES 2
The Veil (High Priestess)
Oil on canvas 30 x 40cm (2024)
INFLUENCES
The High Priestess card from Crowley’s Thoth Deck, painted in pastel by Lady Frieda Harris.
Odilon Redon’s charcoal drawings and lithographs of disembodied heads circa 1880.
Jean Delville’s oil painting The Death of Orpheus. (1893).
Isis and Osiris: Plutarch. circa 1st century A.D.
“In Sais the statue of Athena, whom they believe to be be Isis, bore the inscription:
I am all that has been, and is, and shall be, and my robe no mortal has yet uncovered.”
THE MAGICIAN
Oil on canvas 30 x 40cm (2024)
Influences
A photograph taken by Olwen Holland of Max Ernst’s bronze sculpture Le Grand Génie 1967-1998, (Museo Botera, Bogota).
The Wizard of Oz as revealed by Toto behind the emerald curtain. MGM. (1939).
Myth of the Magus, (1948), Ritual Magic (1949), The Fortunes of Faust (1952) by Elizabeth Butler.
Butler’s masterwork in three volumes explores 1) the origins and historical development of the archetype of the magus, 2) the history of the traditions and practices of ceremonial magic and 3) the emergence and construction of the Faustian legend by Christian mythologists and the subsequent development of the theme in literature and culture.
The Magician Tarot card:
The lesson of the magician card is one of discernment. There is an a abyss of difference between the Magician and the Juggler. The ability to change consciousness in accordance with will rests on seeing reality clearly. Wishful thinking based on disinformation is a treacherous path. We can’t all rely upon Toto to pull back the emerald curtain.
Pushing Up The Daisies (Death Tarot Card)
Oil on canvas 30 x 40cm(2024)
INFLUENCES
Vanitas: The presence of a skull is a theme found in the Vanitas genre. This is a particular form of still life painting that emerged in the 16th century. Symbolically a skull is a reminder that life is transient. The implicit message is to seize the day.
The Death card in the tarot pack. It is one of the cards thought to instil fear in a tarot reading, but depending on the surrounding cards it does not necessarily imply physical death. It can be interpreted as a symbol of transformation and regeneration of the soul.
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry. (1947).
Theme Tune: Don’t fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult (1976)