Ki11erpancake is me! My name is Genevieve Barbee-Turner, artist, illustrator, and curator of the now archived AP Collection (2012-2015). Since 2016 I have shifted to illustrating the communities I have worked and lived in, highlighting the grace of everyday life. After three years of collecting voices as The AP Collection, I had a large selection of stories that have broadened and challenged my feelings about living in Pittsburgh. This has culminated in the creation of Bridge Witches: A Tarot Deck.
>> What is Bridge Witches?
A retelling of the Rider-Waite, this deck of 80 cards illustrates the people and places in the City of Pittsburgh. The suits, (fences, cicadas, trees, and cups) reflect the north, south, east, and west ends of the city, it’s season’s, it’s history, and lesser talked about communities that make Pittsburgh what it is.
While past interviews were used as a spring board, much of Bridge Witches was researched by traversing the neighborhoods, talking to people, and sifting though documents at multiple libraries including The Heinz History Center. The deck is currently available for pre-order, to be delivered in early-October. I’m also looking to sell in local shops around the Pittsburgh area and South Western PA.
>> How do I buy this deck?!
Click here
This website is a live document and will be updating regularly as we reach the holiday season. Please be on the look out for other items coming featuring Bridge Witches including 3D prints, vinyl stickers, and digital “sticker” packs for iOS devices.
This website features as the companion reference document for the Bridge Witches deck and details stories about each card as well as a guide for their individual meaning. Each story of a single card features: why the subject matter was chosen, how the deck might differ from the traditional Rider-Waite deck, and what key symbols lie within it. In each post you can also purchase an individual print of the card should you want one to frame at home or gift to the Queen of Cups in your life (we all have one).
>> How was the deck made?
This deck was drawn by hand on an iPad Pro + Pencil directly into Photoshop on a MacBook Air using the Astropad App. I still use a good old fashioned sketchbook to draw things out and scan in an underdrawing and go from there!
>> What inspired this?
A “traditional” Rider-Waite deck contains 78 cards. Twenty-two are the Major Arcana—the gods of large ideas that impact our lives in significant ways. The other fifty-six are the Minor Arcana which celebrate the mundane / everyday things that come up in our lives. This is an excellent medium for telling stories about the Steel City.
Growing up in the 1990s I enjoyed learning from other girls my age about the “right way” to handle the cards and adored gazing at the intricate art of each one. This interest has stuck with me and as a grown up artist my 2D work is heavily influenced by the allegory and symbolic storytelling of tarot as well as religious art, Japanese printmaking, and the Fauvists.
>> Diversity in Tarot
Like many artists, I’ve found that the traditional tarot deck doesn’t really reflect my lived experience nor that of others around me. In the same vein, I find that the narrative of Pittsburgh is one that historically overlooks the contributions of people of color, the LGBTqi community, and those living with physical and behavioral differences.
Each card of Bridge Witches features a character based on people living in Pittsburgh today. While I want everyone to pick up this deck and see a part of themselves reflected in it I can’t help but caution that I tried my best but am sure I’ve missed something. I’ve used research at the Heinz History Center, conversations I have collected over several years, consultations with writer and tarot reader Erin Nihizer, and Corrine Kenner’s Tarot and Astrology to put together this balance of old and new tarot. The established institutions currently in place for preserving history in Pittsburgh are inherently biased. While I’ve connected with people in minority communities who are preserving their own history, I must acknowledge that I’m a white woman with my own inherent biases invited as a guest to those space. As I work daily to undo the racism and systemic oppressive attitudes that I’ve been raised with it’s never enough. This is me taking a crack at capturing stories from today’s Pittsburgh and paying homage to the people who got us here—not me stating any kind of authority.
>> Connect
If you use Facebook please connect by liking the Bridge Witches Facebook page. You can also purchase items in Facebook as well :)
I’m on Instagram as @ki11erpancak3 and love to follow other artists, illustrators, and creatives. I might be a little obsessed with IG-storys...
My other Tumblr page is for all things @ki11erpancake related including work I do for clients. If you need visuals for your website, print materials (including book covers / posters), or a mural for your wall please get in touch.
Email me at [email protected] for questions, comments, or salutations.
