a sky full of paper birds is a poetry book and digital storytelling experience that reflects on the tragic and systematic oppression of transgenders in indian society. this project – including the poetry – was conceived, written, and illustrated in full by me. i drew design inspiration from the classical indian pattachitra form of epic poetry, and combined those elements with concepts from contemporary graphic noveling to create a product that is artful, thought-provoking, and culturally enriching. the dramatic inspiration was drawn from the artworks of Ellen Von Wiegand
in classical pattachitra, epic poems are recited based on mythological images painted on continuous scrolls. i wanted to transfer this essence of unfurling a scroll into the cyberscape by creating an interactive, continuous-scrolling digital version of a sky full of paper birds. as compared to a paper scroll, the digital world offers more flexibility to explore the multitude of sensory and emotional dimensions – i incorporated parallax effects, musical soundtracks, and multimedia content to bring the story to life on screen.
selected illustrations from the piece:
the interactive multimedia digital experience can be accessed exclusively at www.paperbirds.in.
TEJASVA 