Gallery of the Absurd

The Joker - A Catalyst for Change

While my favorite playing card is the Five of Hearts, I also have a special fondness for the Joker. While he's most often depicted as a court jester or fool, my interpretation is focused more on the mythological Trickster archetype. Tricksters have been used in mythology throughout human history and across several cultures as an catalyst of change.

A Trickster may entertain and cause us laughter, but with that entertainment comes a price; hard truths we may not wish to face or accept. By tempering conflict and provocation with entertainment, the Trickster destroys our well-established world while creating a new, unfamiliar one. Change is constant, but most of us resist and cling to what's comfortable and familiar even though it no longer serves our purposes. The appearance of a Trickster can be viewed as either positive or negative depending on how attached we are to our established illusion of the world.

When you draw the Joker in the Pleiadian Deck of Cards, watch in awe as your entire hand changes before your eyes. Are you holding a winning hand in a high stakes Poker game? Are you on your last bet after a long night of losing at the Black Jack table? Expect nothing. When the Joker shows up, everything changes. When you thought you were winning, you were really losing...when you thought you were losing, you were really winning. How very entertaining! Medium: Ink and acrylic on paper.

The Three of Clubs - Milk Bird

Four of Spades - The Pointless Argument

I've decided to post my entire deck of Pleiadian Playing Cards over the course of this year. Some are old and have been posted on the Internets before, some are brand spanking new and have never seen the light of day. The Four of Spades depicts two men engaged in a heated argument over the number four. Uh, I mean 4. No....four. 4. FOUR! 4! ugh, it will never be resolved.

A Pleiadian Deck of Cards

A while back I created an entire deck of playing cards after meeting a strange man in a bar one night. He was very friendly, engaging, well read.....and claimed he had just come to Earth from the Pleiades star cluster. Who am I to doubt him? I finished my wine, went back to my studio, and began working on my Pleiadian Deck of Cards. Here are a few from the collection:

8 OF CLUBS" Infinity dog"

QUEEN OF HEARTS "Who is the fairest of them all?"

10 OF CLUBS "The quiet contemplation of Siddhartha"

8 OF DIAMONDS "Fibonacci Angel"

JACK OF SPADES "Portrait of Leigh Bowery"

4 OF DIAMONDS "Large bird and small bird discuss the merits of a DNA nucleotide"

medium: sharpie and acrylic on paper.

The Five of Hearts

This illustration appeared in Issue #5 of the excellent independent art magazine, Faesthetic. Faesthetic is printed once a year and features emerging and underground artists, photographers, and illustrators. Since the theme of Issue #5 was "FIVE & NUDITY", I chose to illustrate my favorite playing card. Medium: ink on paper, digital color.