Digital Art

Digital Art: Santa Jaius de Teyazzapardi

Date: 2010
Style: Digital Collage
Size: 2800 x 3000 pixels
Series: Khataria
Source: Jai Noel
Setting: Baie de l'Amore, Irukandji

 "Santa Jaius de Teyazzapardi" is one of a series of Thanacian postage stamps created as illustrations for my novel Exile of Titania.  This stamp commemorates the 700th anniversary of one of the central heroes, Jai d'Erstinaya.

When a reader stumbles upon the illustration in the novel, especially if they have read the later novels set 700 years later, it's quite disturbing to see how history has misinterpreted Jai, at least from the Thanacian perspective.

Jai is shown here as a saint, whereas in his homeland of Khataria, he does not follow God but is a prophet and Seer of the Faith.  Analogies could be made to the interpretation of Jesus from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim perspectives.  Also troubling to the reader is that Thanacia has sought to erase Jai's true Khatarian heritage and altered his surname from d'Erstinaya (named for the town Erstinaya) to de Teyazzapardi, the state where he first came into contact with the Karystians.

Jai's photograph was taken on the Irukandji virtual continent, and the model is Jai Noel, who in fact is named after Jai in the book - Art is complicated :))

Other stamps in the series will be coming out soon.