The Magician (2017). 21 × 29.7 cm. Pen and colored pencil.
The Tarot card, which was originally produced in Italy around the 15th century, has been widely used as a means of entertainment for aristocrats, as a gateway to meditation, as a muse that inspires novels and movies; in particular, it has become an important tool of fortune-telling for many years. As fortune-telling is an insight into the past, present, and future, the Tarot card contains the meaning of one soul's journey—starting from birth, through various attempts and challenges of life, finally to death and resurrection. Above all, the mysterious and fantastic paintings in Tarot cards are an excellent wellspring of Western imagination, fantasy, and creativity.
Along with the Tarot card, on the other hand, one of China's oldest mythologies entitled Shan-hai Ching (Classic of Mountains and Seas, 山海經) inspired me to draw these artworks. This classic text—including a record of strange things, human beings, and gods in China and the periphery, as well as their illustrations—is mysterious and fascinating, and also reminds me of the essence of the Eastern imagination. Through Shan-hai Ching and the Tarot card, I challenged to apply the Eastern cultural values and meanings to the Western unconscious and fantasy.
