“Most of my work is in photography and photo-compositing,” visual artist Rhonda Pelley told NQ in an earlier interview. “Recently I’ve been experimenting with collage. I saw an ad in a vintage woman’s magazine for a knitted suit pattern and I was bitten. It had two models smiling at balls of wool that they were holding in their hands and I had a strong urge to put grenades there instead. The subversive nature of collage really appeals to me.
“Right now, I am working on a series of collage that will be a full deck of NL tarot cards. I’m collecting material from local history books, archives, etc. and blending it with my own photography. It feels a little monstrous at times – a full deck of tarot is made up of 78 images – but when I’m not panicking about the size of the project I’m really enjoying it. Researching and collecting material and collaging the past and the present together is an endlessly fascinating process for me.”
These images, and more, are now on view in Certain Strange Visions.

Born in St John’s, Newfoundland, Rhonda Pelley spent her early childhood in Nelson, British Columbia before returning home with her family in the late 1970s. Pelley is a second-generation visual artist who employs photography, compositing, collage techniques and data projection to create surreal and evocative images that explore the political and psychological aspects of identity. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Rooms Provincial Art Gallery, Christina Parker Gallery, RCA, Headquarters 57 and Leyton Gallery (St. John’s), Campbell River Art Gallery (British Columbia), Galerie Les Territoires (Montreal), the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the Musée de l’Elysée (Switzerland). Pelley’s artwork has been published in books and publications such as Chatelaine, Room, Geist, Newfoundland Quarterlyand Riddle Fence, and she is the recipient of the Rogers Communication NL Book Writing Award for Non-Fiction for Island Maid – Voices of Outport Women (co-created by Sheilagh O’Leary). In 2018, her Newfoundland Tarot project was showcased in Canadian Art magazine in a feature article by Leah Sandals. Pelley lives in downtown St John’s with her partner and their two cats.

The exhibition continues at Christina Parker Gallery until July 12, with an Artist’s Talk hosted by Craig Francis Power at the gallery on July 9 at 7pm.

Artworks: Ace of Wands (Archival inkjet print on Luxe Cotton Rag paper, 18.5in × 21.25in, 2025); Temperance (Archival inkjet print on Luxe Cotton Rag paper, 18.5in × 21.25in, 2025); Princess of Swords (Archival inkjet print on Luxe Cotton Rag paper, 18.5in x 21.25in, 2024); courtesy Christina Parker Gallery.