Atu III - The Empress - Thoth Tarot - Aleister Crowley 

Editor: This is "Atu III - The Empress - Thoth Tarot" by Lady Frieda Harris, a mixed-media piece in what looks like an Art Nouveau style. It's... pretty out there! It definitely has this mystical quality to it, but the colours are a little unsettling, almost psychedelic. What catches your eye about it? Curator: Unsettling is a good word! It vibrates, doesn't it? Harris was working directly with Aleister Crowley's ideas, attempting to visualize a complex system of occult philosophy. Forget Renaissance perspective, she’s reaching for something beyond the veil. Do you feel that tension between the familiar and the…alien? Editor: Definitely. The figure is recognizably human, but then you have all these geometric patterns and strange symbols thrown in. I can’t decide if it looks more decorative or disturbing. Curator: Maybe it’s both! Consider the swan, usually a symbol of grace and beauty. Here, it seems almost watchful, guarding the Empress's secrets. Harris is using symbolism, but twisting it, pushing it to an extreme to reveal something hidden. Like a dream…do you ever have those dreams that feel both intensely personal and utterly bizarre? Editor: All the time! So you’re saying the image isn’t meant to be straightforward. Curator: Oh heavens, no! It’s an invitation, a puzzle. A journey into the subconscious. Look at the swirling colours, the juxtaposition of the hard geometric shapes with the softer curves. It's not meant to be easily digested, is it? Editor: No, it’s definitely giving me a lot to think about. I’d assumed it was just decorative, but I now see it holds so much more. It feels really radical, really unusual. Curator: And that's what makes it special, isn't it? Art that makes you work, that pulls you in and demands something of you. I love that, don't you?