Tarot Fiber Cards

Bec Prior began their pursuit of learning the Tarot in 2025, as a means of understanding archetypes, myth, and their potential use for introspection: connecting personal stories of the self with broader cultural and historic ideas of narrative, characters, and virtues.

Never being one to hesitate diving into a new interest, Bec embarked on creating their own interpretation of the 22 major arcana cards for the purpose of studying their content, meaning, and symbolism. Bec attempted to distill the message and imagery central to each card through an interpretation that layered their own references and memories. This study was primarily based on the iconic Rider-Waite Smith deck, but was occasionally influenced by other versions, as well. Burying their nose in the writings of Rachel Pollack, Mary K. Greer, and Paul Huson, Bec aimed to get a holistic view of the Tarot's long and disputed history. The Tarot's winding evolution as not only a divinatory tool and card game, but also a complex system onto which countless individuals layer their own interpretations and meanings, has transformed it into what Bec views as a collaborative work of art. One that continues to adapt each time any person pulls a card or sketches their own design of it. For these reasons, Bec sees the divinatory use of Tarot to be in line with the interpersonal, gendered, and tactile themes of their other work.

Observing the myriad connections between Tarot and quilting as creative practices, it felt only natural for her to sew her own version of these iconic and meaningful images. Bec began working on a smaller scale and with more precise detail as they made these "fiber cards" as she likes to call them. This marked a turning point in her textile work toward a more illustrative, experimental, textural, and delicate approach. The small scale began as a practical means of rationing materials, but also opened the artist up to new ways of conceptualizing new textile works. Thinking smaller has allowed Bec to produce a higher quantity of high-quality pieces, and thus consider how they can be more affordably put into the hands and onto the walls of other fiber art lovers--seeing as traditional quilts are extremely expensive to produce on a marketable scale.

Bec taught themselves several new techniques in glass bead embroidery through this project as well. Having formerly only used beads sparingly as minimal accents in previous work, the Great Major Arcana Journey gave Bec a love for the meticulous art of placing bugles and seed beads. The repetitive nature of the process, paired with the tactile nature of handling a soft piece of art over extended time, allowed the artist to meditate on the ideas contained in each card. An intense sense memory still overcomes her when she holds one of these fiber cards in her hands, as the music, conversations, audiobooks, or visible scenery that were present as it was being made come flooding back to her.

Bec's "Fool's Journey"...

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