Genevieve Barbee-Turner, Killerpancake Ki11erpancake

 

What is a Killerpancake?

Killerpancake Illustration is Genevieve Barbee-Turner, a tarot card illustrator and two-dimensional artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. She is creating cursed occult wares including tarot decks, stickers and stationary, fine art prints, and other decor inspired by horror stories, folklore, and ghost stories from across history and pop culture. Killerpancake blends contemporary Appalachia and queer/femme identity with a splash of gothic aesthetic.

Genevieve’s pen name, Killerpancake, is an ode to hours of listening to audiobooks while drawing as a young girl. A reference to a cozy mystery book title, listening to a story has always painted pictures inside her head in a way that nothing else does. In 2012, she started recording a podcast called The AP Collection, where she interviewed approximately 200 people about Pittsburgh and creativity. These conversations inspired a fully illustrated 78-card tarot deck detailing the realities of “New Pittsburgh” called Bridge Witches: A Tarot Deck.

About Genevieve

As a product of the Bible Belt in the 90s, Genevieve lived in the wake of the Satanic Panic. As a result, she learned early that fear and anxiety are tools used by people to control other people, especially women and queer people. Later, she luckily, found “misfits” in the goth club scene, where she met people of a wide variety of genders and sexual identities. In the era of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, there were spaces that sheltered folks living on the fringe, and in that space, Genevieve discovered her people.

Genevieve earned a BFA in Art from Carnegie Mellon University in 2007, and studied at Universität der Künste Berlin in 2006 focusing on printing, drawing, and printmaking. However, her practice was built long before entering an art studio.

Since childhood, she has had a drawing instrument in her hand. Copying of fashion photography in Vogue magazine, her obsession with the human figure and its dynamic use to tell stories remains relevant today. She moved on to drawing classes on VHS tapes, then at the local community center, and ultimately attended The Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, Virginia, during high school before moving on to her studies at CMU in Pittsburgh.

Tarot & The Occult

A tarot deck is a collection of individual stories that come together to form creative narratives. In the cards she illustrates, Genevieve  combines a love of portraiture and storytelling—exploring how we talk about ourselves and the symbols we use to communicate our values. A tarot deck is both a communication tool and an illustrated universe that fits into a pocket. Since creating Bridge Witches in 2016, she has built several other decks exploring mental health, queer identity, imposter syndrome, and income inequality. 

Genevieve also has a niche portrait business transforming people into any monster they desire.

Process

Genevieve creates her card illustrations first with paper and pencil and then moves on to an iPad, drawing with Procreate. Using print-on-demand services, she releases extremely limited print runs of each deck for sale through her website and limited wholesale. As of 2022, she has sold tarot decks across the United States, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

She is actively seeking representation and traditional publication of a deck.  

Work (Tarot Decks)

Since 2016 I have self-published all of my deck. I'm currently seeking traditional publishing. 

Bridge Witches: A Tarot Deck (volume 1, out of print)

Bridge Witches: A Tarot Deck (volume 2, out of print)

Bridge Witches: A Tarot Deck (volume 3, out of print

Lost River: A Deck for Divination & Play (out of print)

CULT: A Deck of Tarot (currently available) 

INFERNO (currently available) 

 

The Credentials

  • BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, concentration in Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking
  • Vice-President of Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators, 2016-2018