The Manifesting Paradise Deck
An Exploration of Omens through Generations.
Manifesting Paradise is a Tarot Deck created by interdisciplinary artist, Adrienne Elise Tarver.
The deck includes the traditional 78 tarot cards reimagined, including the 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana.
The images, symbols, colors, and figures reflect the perspective of a Black female protagonist harnessing the power of the elements.
The Minor Arcana suits, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire, reflect how closely connected this deck is to the inherent knowledge of the natural world.
See the deck.
HOW THE PROJECT STARTED
Manifesting Paradise emerged from feelings of uncertainty and a search for guiding messages. I turned to tarot as a tool to explore hope, progress, and the possibility of a brighter future.
This project looks to the future and is an exploration of the endurance, permanence, and resonance of symbols, imagery, ideas, and omens through generations.
PROJECT EXHIBITIONS
The Manifesting Paradise project has taken many forms as I’ve worked on developing the images for each card. It started as an exploration of the archetypes of the Major Arcana and I quickly decided to expand the project to eventually create a whole deck. While working on the 78 tarot images, reimagined through my visual language, the works on paper filled my studio and entered conversations during visits to my studio. This was the beginning of this project’s many lives.
The Manifesting Paradise project lives as the original works on paper, video installations, tapestries, and a collaged mural. Part of Manifesting Paradise have been exhibited nationally in museums, galleries, art fairs, and the streets of New York. Finally, the goal is for the project to be available to everyone as a book and printed deck of all 78 cards.
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Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, CT, Fall 2021
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Art Basel Miami with Welancora Gallery, December 2023
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"Manifest" video from solo exhibition "To Learn the Dark" at OCHI Gallery, LA, February 2023
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Armory Art Fair with Welancora Gallery, September 2021
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Public Art Fund "Art on the Grid" Exhibition, Summer 2020
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Collage Mural - Google Offices, NYC, 2020
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THE IMAGERY
The original images for the cards were handmade using a combination of ink, oil pastels, and colored pencils on watercolor paper. Each card’s array of warm, lush hues evoke the allure of paradise and the fantasy of the tropics, inviting users to immerse themselves in a realm of vibrant colors and verdant imagery.
GET THE DECK
The full tarot deck will launch in the future. Featuring 78 cards representing the Major and Minor Arcana, each card is brought to life through the artist’s unique visual language. Sign up for updates about the launch to secure your own deck.
About the Artist
Adrienne Elise Tarver is an interdisciplinary artist with a practice that spans painting, sculpture, installation, textiles, photography, and video. Her work addresses the complexity and invisibility of the black female identity. She has exhibited nationally and abroad, including notable solo exhibitions at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, CT; the Academy Art Museum, MD; and Atlanta Contemporary, GA. She has been featured in online and print publications including the New York Times, Forbes, Brooklyn Magazine, ArtNews, ArtNet, Whitewall Magazine, and Hyperallergic, among others. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and BFA from Boston University.
