As one of the world’s most celebrated living photographers, mixed media photographer Justin Aversano has sold for record sums at Sotheby’s, Christie's and on the blockchain. Best known for his Twin Flames collection, Aversano connects with the world around him by capturing moments, faces and communities as he brings them together through his lens.

His latest project, Smoke and Mirrors, offers collectors a unique introduction to the world of tarot by combining photos, tarot cards and blockchain. The collection comprises 78 limited edition silkscreen prints with corresponding NFTs that reimagine the fortune-telling deck through the medium of photography with 22 major arcana (gold) portraits and 56 minor arcana (silver) portraits printed on papyrus. Aversano—alongside collaborator and Gabba Gallery owner Jason Ostro—then created 10 different variations of the 78 silkscreen archetypes to generate a total of 780 physical silkscreens with 780 digital NFTs.

“All of my projects connect through a web of consciousness of spirit,” Aversano said to me in a recent conversation. “Smoke and Mirrors is an exploration of mysticism and mythology and sharing a story that’s been with us since the Kabbalah eras—the old tarot story that’s really the hero’s journey. We’re all heroes in our own stories, the journey from being the fool to coming into enlightenment. I think that’s really what tarot was trying to show us—the story of who we become and recognizing it within ourselves.”

Death, by Justin Aversano

As a companion to the Smoke and Mirrors silkscreen and digital art, Aversano also created an interactive book, which after being pre-sold back in March 2023, is now finally being released and shipped in partnership with Transient Labs.

The book takes readers through the 22 major arcana—the named or numbered cards within traditional tarot card decks—beginning with the fool. There are words and descriptions of each card archetype in the form of a haiku and the journey takes readers through all four suits—Swords, Cups, Coins, and Wands.

Each book costs .08 ETH each and comes with a deck of tarot cards that are actually Aversano’s polaroid photographs on which the silkscreen art is based. The regular edition of the book has a silver seam, of which 1,000 copies exist, as well as a gold collector’s edition.

“I want this book to be used as a tarot guide through photography,” Aversano said. “A lot of tarot is made with illustration, but I wanted to play with photography and people as the archetypes. It’s not a book that just sits on a bookshelf forever, you can literally use the book everyday for guidance, self-reflection or fun.”

Collectors who purchased a framed print received a corresponding NFT, the collector’s edition physical book and corresponding digital copy—two physical items and two digital items for $2,000.

But what happens if you purchased a Smoke and Mirrors NFT on the secondary market and want the corresponding physical print that it’s tethered to?

Fortunately, Aversano has a strong personal relationship with his collectors and tries to facilitate those transactions as best he can.

Four of Cups, by Justin Aversano

“The hard part about selling something physical with NFTs is that I want people to keep this shit,” Aversano said. “It’s hard to enforce, but I like to know all of my collectors so I’m able to contact one collector and say, ‘Hey, this other collector just bought [an NFT], can you ship them the piece.’ I love my collectors and I want my collectors to have what they bought.”

By doing so, Aversano’s community engagement keeps his work at the epicenter of conversation, and the simple act of getting to know his collectors can have a huge impact cultivating a feeling of closeness amongst members and with the artist himself.

“When you’re working in silkscreens, it’s best to have a volume of work that can live in prints all around the world versus a one-of-one—like my Twin Flames—that only one person has,” Aversano said. “I wanted to open the scope to more people being able to hang the work up in their homes.”

Queen of Staffs, by Justin Aversano

In a way, Aversano’s work is helping people consciously and unconsciously become more spiritually aware humans.

“A lot of people who came in contact with my project were afraid of tarot because of bad juju or whatever bullshit they were taught,” he said. “I’m bringing it from the lens of an archetypal mythological story of the journey. Don’t look at it as fortune telling, black magic or voodoo—but rather, what’s the card you’re pulling reflecting in you that you’re thinking about or want to work on? It’s just a mirror of your consciousness that can help guide you to thinking more honestly with yourself.”