Molly Palmer about 'Predictions':
This painting was made during a residency at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley CA. I was living at the time with a woman who was obsessed with tarot readings, and I felt an affinity to this practice as I was already interested in the use of ritual as a technology of self actualisation, helping a person to evolve their inner and exterior lives through the setting of intentions. I began to think about different practices of fortune telling, such as Runes and the I Ching, not as an actual prediction of the future, but as a placing of certain symbols or images in a person's mind, like casting an anchor into the sea. In the act of performing the reading, and by visualising certain personal developments, the subject of the reading becomes aware of things already existing in their minds and can continue their lives referring back to readings for guidance. I'm interested in the idea that we have the power to shape our own futures, fulfilling or avoiding certain prophecies through an awareness of their possibility. The reading then becomes a kind of rope thrown forwards, which we can grab a hold of to pull ourselves into becoming. The painting depicts a card combination of the Nine of Rods and the four of rods (or wands). The Nine of Rods represents, among other things, the idea of courage in the face of adversity and a stability that cannot be removed. It can also refer to fluctuations in health and an idea of inner strength. The four of rods' representations can include hard work with good results, a haven of refuge, a domestic ideal of home, repose, harmony, prosperity and peace. In relation to my peripatetic situation, these cards were said to illustrate my challenges in finding a sense of home and belonging in a world where circumstances constantly shift. They also suggested that this imagined safety and peace of mind may not be something in the external world but something internal that it is possible to nourish and expand. Predictions is intended as a reminder that although our physical homes may shift and fluctuate, we always carry a home within our selves.