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This series started with a fascination for the strange theater of royalty—the old hierarchies embedded in playing cards and tarot decks. I began sketching kings, queens, beasts, flowers, and vessels, letting them evolve into layered abstractions.

At first glance, these pieces might feel whimsical, but there’s an underlying tension running through them. The faded crowns, dissolving figures, and unruly vines all hint at something deeper: the slow collapse of power. As I painted, I found myself thinking more and more about the present moment—the one percent clinging to control, the absurdity of inherited power, and the quiet hope that these systems will eventually fall apart.

These paintings aren’t literal or didactic. They’re fragments of a crumbling court, where animals roam freely and nature starts to reclaim the scene. They’re about sovereignty, absurdity, and the beauty of things coming undone.

Playing Cards
 

© 2023 by ANDREA WEDELL

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