The Salt Laker Oracle Card
THE SALT LAKER: A creative born from the dichotomy of an overarching purity culture vs. a coffee drinking rebellion. Having grown up in a landscape painted black and white by the founding religion, it can be challenging to practice gratitude for the externally viewed “cult” that forged some part in your existence. The beliefs that were sold to your family, offered them an opportunity to gather here and begin a new life. From around the globe, converts settled into this incredibly beautiful and diverse valley.
Awakened by the inequality, racism, homophobia, judgments, and lack of their self-identified “Chris-like” values, you’ve done your best to unsubscribe from the deeply rooted shame of benign behaviors, and found curiosity and necessity to reclaim your bodily autonomy and personal identity. You’ve begun the exploration of who you authentically are, trying on new self expressions, and coloring a life outside of the lines you were once confined to.
Salt Lake City is still home, despite the weight of a traumatized past. You’re holding space for all the versions of yourself, expanding the possibilities of how this city could grow, with unconditional love. A place potentially worthy of its proclamation, where future generations can feel safe to be seen for who they truly are. Continue to take up space and radiate all the spectrums of your wholehearted soul. Salt Lake City is illuminated by the gift of your presence.
I wrote the oracle card before I created the painting and these words became my map, for the image you now see.
Growing Up LDS Adjacent in Salt Lake City
At the beginning of last year, I started a photography course called The Freelance Photographer. In one of the lessons, Paul, the owner/educator of the course, encouraged the students to reflect on what makes each of us unique. What came to mind for me was that I grew up in Salt Lake City, outside of the predominant religion. In the past, I had viewed this as a weakness. I felt left out, but I also didn't want to be a part of it. Now I can see it as an advantage and a strength, that I have the empathy and understanding of the purity culture, but that I was able to be somewhat removed from the teachings.
Growing up adjacent to the the LDS faith has definitely still had an impact on me. I recognize my tendencies to have "all-or-nothing" type thoughts, which I don't believe is exclusive to their religion, but I see a lot of patterns in their beliefs that feel very "black and white" or "good vs. bad". I still find myself trying to categorize things into "good vs. bad". For the longest time, I was unaware of the names of actual emotions and I would label most of my own emotions as: good, bad, or anxiety. Those were literally the three "emotions" I was functioning from, or trying to fit my life into, which was incredibly unhelpful and unhealthy for me.
My grandparents were born into the faith, even my Oma, who was born in Germany. They are some of the most Christ-Like people that I have ever met. They belief in their faith, wholeheartedly. They are beyond hardworking and resourceful humans. They show up for their community and they look for ways to be involved with their family, neighbors, and church. I literally wouldn't exist if it weren't for them connecting through their faith, while they were both serving on a mission in Austria. I may not personally agree with the LDS faith, but I respect my grandparents and family members, and I can understand why it is so important to them.
Keep Salt Lake Weird Art Show at Shop MOMU
See the Gallery on Display from March 27th - April 24th, 2026
Gallery Stroll from 6:00pm - 9:00pm on April 17th, 2026
A special thank you to Rebecca, the owner of Shop MOMU, for creating a space where I've felt safe and inspired to create and submit my art. Seeing Rebecca's bravery and tenacity to open a brick and mortar store in Salt Lake City, and fill it with colorful, vibrant, unique, fun, amazing treasures, clothes, house hold goodies, and gifts that inspire and delight, has given me the encouragement that I needed to create and put more of my art out into the world.
A few people have asked me why I've submitted art instead of photography and the answer is that: I've been inspired to create art. I've done both art and photography for fun and for work, but doing them both simultaneously for the sake of an income is rather difficult to bounce back and forth. Photography is my main passion, so it's nice to be able to unplug and create art just for fun, without the need or pressure to put a price tag on it, or create it for someone else.
About The Salt Laker Oracle Card
The Salt Laker Oracle Card technique was inspired by a combination of vintage and modern arts and crafts. Rebecca’s prompt for the art submission said that she was seeking work that might include: “playful, experimental, or unconventional approaches to materials or subject matter.” My first spark of inspiration came from the vintage velvet posters, you used to be able to pick up at the dollar store. Rebecca had recently found some modern versions of these in a Zodiac theme or a Moody Cat theme, and the nostalgia came pouring back to me.
Then I also remembered those rainbow scratch papers, where you’d scrape off parts of the black material to reveal the rainbows below. I LOVED those and hoarded sheets of that paper, waiting for the perfect opportunity to use one. (Which never came. Hello, perfectionist.) However, I loved the idea of combining the look of a velvet poster with a rainbow revealed below.
I had recently had a craft date with my friend Genevieve, where we let our inner children run rampant with paint. We played around with different color palettes and experimented, with a squeegee technique. I ended up using one of those color palettes to create new squeegee art, that would fit the frame I serendipitously thrifted for this project.
I wanted the card design itself to be very minimal, only using black and white to represent the “good and bad”/“all-or-nothing” mentality. I wanted to include the temple as a very small feature in the painting, because it’s still a part of my story, but it’s not the main focus. I wanted the rainbow paint in the background to be what has been revealed after “scraping” off the teachings/beliefs that are harmful to the many different spectrums of people, who live in our beautiful city.
The mountains represent the Wasatch and Oquirrh ranges, which hold the Great Salt Lake between them. With the mountains being reflected in the water, representing self reflection/introspection, vs. seeking answers outside of self. The sun is rising and the stars punctuate the black sky, with their own combination of colors and identities. I imagine the stars and the sun to be shining their light through the darkness, ascending, and giving hope to a new generation of Salt Lakers.
