Projects / ECOTarot
ECOTarot, 2017-Present
Custom Tarot Deck and Public Performances, ongoing
›› Creator/Designer/Producer/Performer ››
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Since November 2017, I have been offering free “climate future readings” in public settings utilizing my custom deck of ECOtarot cards. The cards of the ECOtarot deck update standard archetypes and interpretations from the original “tarocchi” to reflect contemporary actors, values and symbols from our climate drama. The ECOtarot deck’s beauty and power is derived from original artwork printed on handmade, plant-based paper (agave and recycled cotton and linen), and hand-painted with natural pigments.
In every venue in which I have presented (from Joshua Tree and Berkeley CA to Phoenix AZ, Atlanta GA, New York City, Finland, and Chile), I have been greeted with a line of seekers. Most have never had a tarot reading before. The technology of the ECOtarot cards and my custom spreads catalyze a series of intimate speculative exchanges that tap into the rational and irrational thoughts and feelings of a wide range of people struggling to make sense of how to live in our world. Climate Future readings tap into strong, often contradictory emotions, including ecological grief and the optimism underlying natural cycles. In aggregate, the exchanges form a fascinating snapshot of our human culture at this moment.
ECOtarot featured in “The Conversation”
This deck and the performance that it makes possible are dedicated to the memory of my mother, Carol Jane Marie Jenik aka “Zyla” in appreciation for her connection to worlds beyond.
Deck illustrations, papermaking and screenprinting by Molly Koehn
May we all awaken to the understanding that we walk the same earth, breath the same air, drink from the same finite water source and affect each other’s spirit.