The History of Eldra

The History of Eldra is an immersive, interdisciplinary installation that invites viewers into the imagined world of Eldra, a fictional realm I’ve built over years through writing, illustration, cartography, and design. This body of work represents my most complete realization of Eldra to date, combining a 20-foot hand-rendered map, dozens of environmental illustrations, archival-inspired pages, and a 200-page hand-bound book chronicling the realm’s layered history.

Eldra is a constructed world, but it draws deeply from our own. Inspired by a range of sources, from Tolkien to Ridley Scott, real-world revolutions to propaganda archives, this project blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Many of the quotes, photographs, and graphic elements used in this show are borrowed directly from historical sources and recontextualized within the Eldran narrative. This is not just aesthetic—it is an act of remembrance and reflection. It invites viewers to consider how power shapes history, how propaganda can define perception, and how beauty and brutality often coexist in the same timeline.

The work is overwhelming by design. It mirrors how truth is often buried beneath layers, requiring time, care, and the willingness to look closely. Those who engage deeply will uncover the complex, and at times uncomfortable, truths of Eldra: stories of colonization, resistance, censorship, and survival. Others may see only a beautiful fantasy landscape. This split is intentional. It reflects the divide between those who accept the surface of the world and those who confront its depth, ambiguity, and pain.

What began as a fantasy became a mirror. In building a world to escape into, I found myself recreating the very systems I sought to leave behind. This project, at its core, is about the uneasy relationship between fiction and reality, and about learning to love a world—even a flawed one—for what it is.

As Ernest Cline reminds us:
“As terrifying and painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real.”