paradise
Paradise, an in-progress five-volume graphic novel series, began with the goal of creating a story that could depict the unknown and disturbing elements of the human experience in a way that was still deeply loving and undeniably beautiful. The project concentrates on the vast emotional landscapes we internally traverse and how honoring these undercurrents integrates them into our surface lives. It visually explores the deep rift that can develop between the sense of identity we consciously acknowledge and the subconscious, intangible self that exists within us.
The plot moves between different periods of the main character's real life and a sunken underwater city in ruins she is led to, representing the inner world that she must rebuild in order to survive.
The mysterious events that begin to wreak havoc in her life are eventually revealed to be the guidance of her own deep self as it responds to her repeated rejection of aspects of her identity. The novel concludes that valuing the totality of our experience, especially the parts that initially frighten and confuse us, is what creates a true sense of paradise and allows us to navigate through our inner and outer worlds with courage and empathy.
This integration of the unfamiliar diminishes our susceptibility to categorization and othering within our collective and provides us with a sense of wonder instead of fear when encountering the unknown, whether the unknown is within us or represented outside of ourselves in another individual or idea.
