Dark Horse from the Four
Horses of the Apocalypse

2022
Prismacolor pencil and Oil Pastel
on Strathmore Paper
12×9 inches

My favorite book throughout my lifetime is “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” It is a story which I feel closely parallels the figures and themes of the tarot, in that a central figure passes through fantastical (mystical) experiences varied in life aspects through to resolution. The Devil card in the tarot represents the darker shadow side of one’s self, and also the negative forces that constrain and hold one back from realizing the best version of one’s self. Here, the Devil is represented by the Jabberwock, a fantastical creature in Alice, found in the contained poem Jabberwocky. The creature is dragon-like, greatly dreaded, yet slain through the courage of a boy with a magical sword. This story embodies the triumph of the self over the darkness inherent in humanity. The poem itself contains a great many nonsense words (some of which later adopted into the English language, eg.”jabberwocky”), representative to me of the constraints found in my sometimes difficulty in communicating with others.