Conceptualization, Illustration, Book Design
the women who launched the wars
The Story
An illustrated novella for young adults reclaiming the voices of two of the most pivotal, yet underrepresented female voices from the Iliad and Ramayana - Helen & Sita.
Rooted in two very different cultures, the book is designed to show the mirrored trajectories of their lives highlighting the surprising similarities across time, literature and civilizations.
Creating two distinct visual libraries of colour, characters, form and typography - cool tones for Helen, warm hues for Sita. An ode to the rich Greek and Indian histories of art, architecture and sculpture.
A collaborative project commission for a McGill Public Scholarship Project in Montreal, Canada. Mentored by Professor Paul Yachnin, President of the Shakespeare Association of America (2009-10).
Helen
The Iliad, attributed to Homer, is an archetypal war story, and at the same time it is an anti-war story. It shows us the heroism and also the tragedy and senselessness of war. It is the prototype of all wars and all war stories. It puts human faces to the struggle and the suffering.
sita
&
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic which follows Prince Rama's quest to rescue his beloved wife Sita from the clutches of Ravana. It is traditionally attributed to the authorship of the sage Valmiki and dated to around 500 BCE to 100 BCE.
But why do we seldom, if ever, hear from the women whom the wars were waged over?
