In my series, “Pornified Prophesies,” I drew and printed three different major arcana tarot cards: The Lovers, The High Priestess, and The Magician, using imagery and figures taken from vintage pornographic magazines. The project seeks to explore the relationship between sexuality, power, and spirituality and how these themes are influenced by popular culture and the media. By using porn stars as the reference point for the characters in the tarot cards, the project seeks to comment on the commodification of sexuality and the objectification of women in popular culture. The use of irony further underscores these themes and highlights the complex relationship between sexuality, power, and spirituality. Using traditional and digital media and incorporating porn stars as reference points create a visually compelling and thought-provoking body of work that engages with complex and timely themes.
"Pornified Prophesies"
Pen and pencil on paper turned into a print.
The Magician
The Magician is a master of alchemy, able to turn lead into gold and transform the mundane into the extraordinary. But there is a darker side to his power as well. The Magician can be a symbol of illusion and deceit, of using one's power to manipulate and control others. The figure on the card stands tall and confident, with a wand held aloft and a look of intense focus on his face. He embodies the power of transformation, of taking the raw materials of our lives and shaping them into something new and beautiful.
In many ways, The Magician represents the struggle for control and power that lies at the heart of so much of our human experience. We are all striving to shape our own lives and make our mark on the world, but we must also be mindful of the potential consequences of our actions. Like The Magician, we must learn to balance our desire for control with a sense of responsibility and empathy for others. We must learn to navigate the complexities of power and influence, always striving to use our gifts and talents for the greater good. The Magician is a reminder of the incredible potential we all have to shape our own reality and transform our lives. But he also reminds us of the dangers of unchecked ambition and the importance of using our power wisely and with care.
The High Priestess
The High Priestess is a figure of great power and wisdom, a symbol of the depths of our inner selves and the vastness of the universe. She is a reminder that there is so much more to this world than what we can see with our eyes and that there is great power in trusting our intuition and following our inner voice. She sits before us, shrouded in a veil of mystery, with a crescent moon at her feet and a scroll in her lap. She is the keeper of secrets, the guardian of knowledge, and the mistress of intuition. But there is also a sense of danger and mystery surrounding The High Priestess. She holds the secrets of the universe within her, and she will only reveal them to those who are worthy. We must be prepared to face our own darkness and confront the secrets that we keep hidden even from ourselves.
The High Priestess is a reminder of the power of the unknown and the importance of trusting our instincts, even when the path ahead is shrouded in mystery. She is a symbol of the wisdom and knowledge that lies within us all, waiting to be unlocked. But she is also a reminder of the dangers of unchecked curiosity and the importance of treading carefully when we delve into the unknown. Like The High Priestess, we must be mindful of our own limitations and the potential consequences of our actions, even as we explore the depths of our own souls.
The Lovers
The Lovers card speaks to the power of love, the intensity of human connection, and the risks and challenges of opening ourselves up to others. It is a card of duality, of the many different forces that shape our lives and relationships. The two figures on the card stand before each other, their bodies intertwined in a dance of passion and desire. But there is also a sense of tension and conflict here, as though the two are locked in a struggle for dominance, a sense of vulnerability and fragility. The Lovers are exposed, stripped bare before each other in a way that is both exhilarating and terrifying.
We must be willing to face our fears and insecurities to truly connect with another person. The Lovers card is a reminder of the power of love to transform and transcend and its ability to destroy and corrupt. It is a symbol of the often tumultuous nature of relationships and the need to navigate these waters with care and respect. Ultimately, The Lovers card is a call to embrace our passions and desires, take risks, and open ourselves up to the world. But we must also be mindful of our actions' potential consequences and their impact on those we love. Like the figures on the card, we must be willing to dance with the contradictions of our own hearts and find a way to make peace with the many different forces that shape our lives.
The act of searching for pornography and the practice of engaging with tarot cards share an intriguing parallel in the realm of choice and chance. In both instances, there exists a process of sifting through a much larger group or batch in pursuit of something personally meaningful. When one searches for explicit content, the vast array of options mirrors the diversity found in a tarot deck. The element of chance plays a crucial role in both scenarios; you navigate through an unpredictable assortment, uncertain of what you will encounter. The selection process, whether it involves clicking through online content or drawing a tarot card, introduces an element of randomness. Much like the tarot, where each card holds symbolic significance, in the search for pornography, one may assign personal meaning to the chosen content, creating a unique and subjective experience. Both acts involve navigating through uncertainty, selecting something from a larger pool, and attributing individual significance to the chosen element, thus intertwining choice, chance, and the quest for personal meaning. The chance encounter becomes a reflection of life's unpredictability, and the act of interpreting the meaning derived from the randomly chosen content or card parallels the way we navigate the uncertainties in our everyday lives. It underscores the human tendency to find meaning and personal connection even in the seemingly arbitrary aspects of our experiences.
With time, sexual relations become valued over actual human complexity. Bodies have become reduced to simplified figures that are represented by their relations to others and, overall, are seen as non-existent in and of themselves. Are some characteristics of bodies inherently seen as attractive or not? Or, because we see everything through the eyes of culture, is it almost impossible for us to see bodies objectively?