LOCKDOWN QUEST
Reinterpretations of the traditional tarot deck, digital illustration.2020
This work is part of the ongoing Vide Magmas project, an imaginary girl gang of six characters, each a refracted piece of the artists identity. This set of illustrations began in february 2020 prior to the onset of the global pandemic, and continued through it until November 2020. Each card became a reflection of real world events, as the real world leaked into the imaginary world of Vide Magmas.
Tarot decks are often used in divination, but can also become a simple tool for introspection. The tarot is structured like a choose your own adventure game, based on the mythological archetype of the hero’s journey. The symbolism and narrative structure are ambivalent enough to make a kind of sense to the ‘reader’ no matter what arrangement they are in. In this way, the tarot deck becomes like a kind of alphabet, with endless possibility for making meaning. Identity itself is a kind of self-mythology, given structure by the story we tell ourselves about who we are and what made us. During the 2020 covid lockdowns, the creation of this tarot deck became a place where a personal-mythology could be played with in a period of isolation, unknowable futures, and shifting normalities.
