XXI The World

XXI The World. Watercolour on paper, 57.3 x 85 cm. 2021.

Painted as a pairing with (and actually before) ‘0 The Fool’, ‘XXI The World.’ Like its partner, ‘XXI The World’ is a re-interpretation of the last card in a Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck. The first iteration I made of the card was mid-2019, in the middle of a social movement in Hong Kong that I’m sure has changed much of our perspectives on what happiness is. Coupled with the waves of the global pandemic, I used this exhibition opportunity at Alisan Fine Arts to create a The World that reflects what a perfect world looks to me now.

The painting echoes ‘0 The Fool’, in which our protagonist wakes up from a slumber. Yet these parallels of waking up to a flurry of nature is different. The Fool looks to create a new land, The World is content with what it has. They are surrounded by the four cardinal guardians from Chinese folklore; the White Tiger of the West, the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermillion Bird of the South, and the Black Tortoise of the North. In their hands, The World holds a mirror aimed at the sky as though that sense of self-reflexivity is no longer directed at the living. Perhaps it’s towards you.

‘XXI The World’ represents a sense of hibernation, and of waking up from the ground, as well as of simultaneous detachment and connection. If The Fool signifies the start of an adventure, The World becomes the idea of navigation through a place you have no control of, that you are able to flow and counter with the changes while still being able to find peace and contentment within yourself. It is the representation of being able to take up space while still able to tolerate and build a community with others even if they are different.

‘XXI The World’ holds my blessing that while nothing can return to how it was, it is the future that we should be working towards. How do we make use of the chaos and ruins of the old world from ‘0 The Fool’ to create a paradise?

 The exhibition is on show until 7 August 2021 at Alisan Fine Arts – Aberdeen. Open on Fridays and Saturdays, all other times are by appointment only.