Irene Torres, the Spanish artisan responsible for the Swiss Marseille Tarot and other Playing Cards, is currently the only female restorer of old decks of cards who redraws the images, creates the missing ones and fills them with vibrant colors, giving them a new life. I was delighted when she accepted my invitation to, not only provide insight into how she works, but to talk about the Tarot card which best describes her as an artisan.
The Queen of Wands is the only queen of the Marseille Tarot who doesn’t look in the same direction as the other queens: the past. She doesn’t follow paths already taken, she traces her own path supported by her Baton, which accompanies her from the past, in the present and towards the future. That Wand related to the Fire Element is her vital and creative spark, which serves as her defense and in which she fully trusts instinctively.
She is the most rebellious of the Queens, because she is the only one who looks to the future. She’s different. She’s special. And precisely for that reason, I love this card! It’s the card that I like the most in the tarot, and in which I see myself reflected.
Like the Queen of Wands, I am a visionary who doesn’t follow paths already laid out by other people, since my skeptical and inquisitive nature prevents me from taking everything as good, without first passing it through my own filters. I love approaching tarot in my own way, because there are already other people who can do the same thing as always. That’s why I choose such special tarot decks or card decks to restore. Therefore, when I create a deck, the result is something totally personal and intimate, where I put part of my own essence, of my own being.
I was born in the north of Spain, and in my works the light and color of my land is represented, a land full of passion and where contrasts in the landscape are common.
If something defines me, it’s honesty, coherence, passion and strong convictions. All of them, on more than one occasion, quite inconvenient.
I am currently the only female restorer of old decks of cards who redraws the images, creates the missing ones and fills them with vibrant colors, giving them a new life. I use natural plant fiber materials, whose touch is reminiscent of old papers. The entire creative process, from the idea, through the drawing, to the design and construction of the box, is carried out personally by hand. They are totally eco-friendly decks.
Like me, my decks are colorful and vital, which is demonstrated in the Swiss Marseille Tarot, a tarot inspired by different Swiss patterns from the 18th century.
The rebellion and sense of justice that characterize me are reflected in the creation-restoration of my deck of playing cards, the Palatian Playing Cards, from an incomplete and practically unknown sheet of playing cards from the 15th-16th century, to which I added four most special Court Cards, the four female pages, each one with the character traits that are specific to each suit. I did this because, when women are eliminated from representations that associate them with risk, courage, freedom, self-improvement and independence, we are perpetuating patterns of women being invisible, weak, obedient and submissive.
Learn more about this deck.
If you are interested in knowing more about Irene’s other decks, they are available here and she can be found on Instagram @naipesartesanos or by email naipesartesanos@gmail.com
Waltzing With Matilda's 