Description:
Magic, tarot, divination, and other forms of belief and alternative spirituality have long resonated with queer and gender non-conforming people. There is evidence to suggest that Pamela Colman Smith, the underappreciated artist behind the iconic Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, was queer. Contemporary artists still find inspiration in the themes and iconography of tarot, sometimes even creating their own decks. This panel will discuss the queer allure of the arcane, and why artists are obsessed with tarot and other forms of magic and divination. The artists on the panel, Cristy C. Road, Fyodor Pavlov, and Kevin Jay Stanton, will discuss their own relationships with magic and tarot. They will share why they created their decks, what the process was like, and how they made choices around the aesthetics, symbols, and meanings of this ancient form, reinventing the tarot deck for a new generation.
Panelists: