King of swords

This painting is a part of my Queer Revolution Tarot series. I painted 78 tarot cards based on the themes of traditional decks, but with a gender expansive approach to a traditionally binary categorization. Masculine and feminine are qualities, not bodies, and anybody could embody either or both.

This card represents mental clarity, intellectual power, authority, and truth. You have the intellect to achieve your goals and the authority to lead others toward theirs. Stand firm and stable, demanding respect; people will look to you as a fair and impartial advisor, making insightful decisions based on your knowledge instead of your emotions.

The attributes of this card transcend gender, so when choosing a model I gravitated toward someone with a particular aura, not a particular gender. Most of my models identify as queer, and many models are genderqueer. When staging the reference photos, I chose the location, pose, lighting, etc, but always told my models to style themselves, wearing something that made them “feel hot and cool.” I felt like across the deck, this would aesthetically show the broad spectrum of gender expression.

Each of the kings in my deck stand with a leg up in a power stance. The king of swords poses authoritatively in a record shop, a library of sorts. Endless possibilities lie in the music in the shelves: excitement, serenity, knowledge, passion, and sadness.