0 The Fool

0 The Fool. Watercolour on paper, 59x89cm. 2021.

‘0 The Fool’ is a re-interpretation of the first card in a Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck. I had painted another iteration of the card in April 2019, for my now published deck, ‘L'Œil de L'Âme Tarot.’ But as we all know, April 2019 was another time and place. So many things had changed in the past two years, that when Daphne King of Alisan Fine Arts asked me to make new works for the exhibition, I felt that I wanted to use the opportunity to create a The Fool that was more aligned with what I thought the card meant to me now.

The painting depicts our protagonist, ‘The Fool’ waking up in the ruins of a long-gone paradise. Taking in the chaos of overgrown funghi, plants, and buildings on the verge of disappearing with just a sweep of the sea, our protagonist sets forth on a new journey to create a new world for themselves.

The Fish represents both the fluttering and temporary obstacles and companionship one needs upon such a journey, while also helping to create this sense of the paradise being ‘Atlantis’, blurring the lines between worlds. The intentional directional movement without the painting emphasizes on the ushering in of change, progress, and migration.

The Moth, in Chinese folklore, is said to be possessed by our ancestors’ or loved ones’ souls who’ve come to visit us. I’ve replaced the butterfly, which represents inspiration in my tarot deck, with the moth to symbolise that sense of remembering our traditions and roots while moving forward. Family, as always makes an appearance in my work.

I was recently asked why I like to put horns and antlers on my characters, but this is actually rather arbitrary. I liked to play dress-up. Horns on Halloween suggests a different character and personality on that one night a year; while you’re not drastically changing yourself, for a moment, you can take on a different life. One, in which, your head-gear eludes a sense of danger and in retrospect, self-protection.

'0 The Fool' was also painted as a pairing with 'XXI The World', with one being the beginning of the cycle, and the other being the end of it.

The exhibition is on show until 8 August 2021 at Alisan Fine Arts – Aberdeen. Open on Fridays and Saturdays, all other times are by appointment only.