STARON · DISCOVERY X CARD · GENESIS 12

Ancient symbols,
lighting the stars anew

ANCIENT MEMORY × FUTURE HUMANITY × COSMIC DIRECTION

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“Each card is a small door to seeing yourself from another angle.”

CURATORIAL NOTE

GENESIS 12 reinterprets enduring symbols, materials and myths through the STARON night sky, Polaris and golden frames. These twelve new artworks translate ancient inspiration into a contemporary and future-facing language.

A shared visual language

The night sky and Polaris, traces of classical materials, modern spaces, one direction keyword, and hidden clues that reward a closer look.

01 TIGER MOVE
01 · TIGER · MOVE

Action · Decision · Direction

MOVE

Artistic inspiration

The mountain tiger becomes a presence moving toward us. Ink, rocks and pine trees meet the moon, Polaris and a cosmic horizon, suggesting a decision that opens a new direction.

Source / Reference

Kim Hong-do, Tiger Under a Pine Tree.

Easter Egg

A tiny star between golden cracks in the lower-left rock. Card 01 has one of the hardest clues.

02 OWL SEE
02 · OWL · SEE

Observation · Wisdom · Clarity

SEE

Artistic inspiration

The owl from a small silver coin becomes a great observer of the night. Olive trees, the moon, the Acropolis and Polaris frame seeing as an act of reading context and patterns.

Source / Reference

The owl on an Athenian tetradrachm.

Easter Egg

The letters ΑΘΕ hidden along the grain of the olive-tree bark.

03 DOLPHIN CONNECT
03 · DOLPHIN · CONNECT

Connection · Harmony · Flow

CONNECT

Artistic inspiration

The dolphins of a flat fresco enter a night sea with worlds above and below the water. Civilization and the underwater ecosystem meet in one scene, suggesting connection across boundaries.

Source / Reference

The Dolphin Fresco at the Palace of Knossos.

Easter Egg

Minoan waves and spirals in underwater pottery and ruined decorations.

04 WOLF BELONG
04 · WOLF · BELONG

Belonging · Protection · Trust

BELONG

Artistic inspiration

A living wolf shelters children in futuristic clothing. Belonging becomes a relationship people continue to choose and protect into the future.

Source / Reference

The Capitoline Wolf, with Romulus and Remus.

Easter Egg

SPQR among broken stones, leaves and weathered marks in the foreground.

05 GIRAFFE LOOK AHEAD
05 · GIRAFFE · LOOK AHEAD

Outlook · Long view · Horizon

LOOK AHEAD

Artistic inspiration

An animal once recorded as arriving from afar becomes a figure looking toward a future horizon. Its height suggests a longer view of time.

Source / Reference

Images of Nubian delegations and giraffes in New Kingdom Egypt.

Easter Egg

Small giraffe reliefs and star marks on stone walls at different heights.

06 FOX ADAPT
06 · FOX · ADAPT

Adaptation · Change · Flexibility

ADAPT

Artistic inspiration

The scene combines moonlight, pine trees, valleys and transformation tales. Adaptation becomes the wisdom of reading an environment and changing with it.

Source / Reference

Joseon animal painting and folk-art traditions, together with East Asian fox tales.

Easter Egg

A small fox with a curling tail within the circular pattern on the foreground rock.

07 DRAGON CREATE
07 · DRAGON · CREATE

Creation · A new beginning · Origins

CREATE

Artistic inspiration

A guardian painted on a wall rises through clouds into a cosmic scene. CREATE suggests both making something new and awakening an old form in a new way.

Source / Reference

The Azure Dragon mural in the Great Tomb of Gangseo, Goguryeo.

Easter Egg

A small east-pointing direction mark at the base of the wall.

08 UNICORN IMAGINE
08 · UNICORN · IMAGINE

Imagination · Possibility · Wonder

IMAGINE

Artistic inspiration

A flower-filled tapestry and its symbolic unicorn expand into a garden of stars. The old symbol becomes a way to imagine possibilities that do not yet exist.

Source / Reference

The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries.

Easter Egg

SPES, Latin for hope, on a stone in the lower-right corner.

09 PHOENIX BEGIN AGAIN
09 · PHOENIX · BEGIN AGAIN

Starting again · Renewal · Transformation

BEGIN AGAIN

Artistic inspiration

The Vermilion Bird of tomb murals becomes a fiery presence above a future city. The focus is the power to begin again.

Source / Reference

Vermilion Bird imagery associated with the Great Tomb of Gangseo, Goguryeo.

Easter Egg

Small curves inspired by the Four Symbols within the feather-cloud patterns.

10 GRIFFIN PROTECT
10 · GRIFFIN · PROTECT

Guardianship · Boundaries · Responsibility

PROTECT

Artistic inspiration

A creature from palace reliefs becomes a guardian of boundaries. Strength means choosing the values and people one takes responsibility for protecting.

Source / Reference

The griffin and winged-creature relief traditions of Achaemenid Persia.

Easter Egg

A twelve-petal rosette and a small griffin in the Persian-style relief below.

11 PEGASUS EXPLORE
11 · PEGASUS · EXPLORE

Exploration · Flight · New paths

EXPLORE

Artistic inspiration

A story of combat becomes a leap into unfamiliar territory. Pegasus represents the urge to explore places not yet on the map.

Source / Reference

Ancient Greek vase paintings of Bellerophon and Pegasus.

Easter Egg

Small silhouettes of Bellerophon and the Chimera among the upper-right clouds.

12 SPHINX QUESTION
12 · SPHINX · QUESTION

Questions · Meaning · Thresholds

QUESTION

Artistic inspiration

The scene brings together the great Egyptian guardian and the questioning Sphinx of Greek tradition. At the end of the path, a human figure asks another question.

Source / Reference

The Great Sphinx of Giza and vase paintings of Oedipus and the Sphinx.

Easter Egg

A tiny person asking a question along the desert path. The final discovery returns to the human observer.

EASTER EGG MAP · SPOILER PAGE

#SYMBOLWHERE TO LOOK
01TIGER · MOVEGolden cracks in the lower-left rock
02OWL · SEEDiagonal grain in the olive-tree bark
03DOLPHIN · CONNECTUnderwater pottery and ruined decorations
04WOLF · BELONGBetween broken stones and leaves in the foreground
05GIRAFFE · LOOK AHEADStone-wall reliefs at different heights
06FOX · ADAPTA circular pattern on the foreground rock
07DRAGON · CREATEA direction mark at the base of the wall
08UNICORN · IMAGINEA stone in the lower-right corner
09PHOENIX · BEGIN AGAINCloud patterns in the phoenix feathers
10GRIFFIN · PROTECTThe Persian-style relief below
11PEGASUS · EXPLOREClouds in the upper-right corner
12SPHINX · QUESTIONA tiny human silhouette on the desert path

REFERENCE SOURCES

  1. Tiger Under a Pine Tree · Google Arts & Culture / Korea Database Agency
  2. Athenian tetradrachm · Acropolis Museum
  3. Dolphin Fresco, Knossos · Heraklion Archaeological Museum
  4. The Capitoline She-wolf · Musei Capitolini
  5. Nubians with a Giraffe and a Monkey, Tomb of Rekhmire · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  6. Joseon yeongmodo/minhwa + East Asian fox iconography · Reference tradition
  7. Gangseodaemyo Blue Dragon · National Museum of Korea
  8. The Lady and the Unicorn · Musée de Cluny
  9. Painting of Red Phoenix, Gangseodaemyo · National Museum of Korea
  10. Persepolis griffin tradition · Smithsonian / Achaemenid sources
  11. Bellerophon, Pegasus & Chimera, Louvre G446 · Musée du Louvre
  12. Great Sphinx of Giza + Oedipus and the Sphinx · Egypt Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities / Oxford CARC