Around 2023, I began making small drawings on pieces of paper. At first, it was nothing more than a casual experiment—a spontaneous urge to understand how stories and characters could take shape, and an early attempt to build a narrative universe of my own. From this intuitive and unstructured process emerged a series of illustrations and a body of work titled The Parade of Characters. It became a playground: a space where I could explore freely, without fixed direction or predetermined outcomes.
Most of the characters that appeared were born from intuition and spontaneity. I did not begin with a carefully mapped storyline, but by listening to subtle impulses that surfaced in my mind. The first character I drew was Mysura—a human who lives in the deepest cave of the world of Elunia. Elunia is a realm untouched by direct sunlight. In its depths, Mysura survives by consuming mushrooms and small surreal creatures that inhabit the cave.
Mysura is neither aggressive nor dominant. He is quiet, withdrawn, and avoids confrontation. Yet when pushed into extreme pressure and anger, he can transform into something brutally violent and sadistic—almost as if he is no longer himself. This shift is not merely an emotional outburst, but the manifestation of a darker side that has long been suppressed beneath silence and restraint.
Beyond Mysura, Elunia is inhabited by many other compelling characters and creatures. Many of them are not truly trapped in this world; they are capable of leaving. However, they choose to remain—not because there is no exit, but because of comfort. This comfort slowly erodes their impulse to question, to imagine the outside world, or to challenge the reality they inhabit. In this sense, Elunia becomes a reflection of what Plato once described in the Allegory of the Cave—a world where shadows are accepted as truth simply because they feel safe.
Some beings in Elunia are born and evolve entirely within its reality. Evolution in this world occurs at an accelerated pace, allowing new characters to emerge constantly. Each forms its own group and tribal structure, complete with distinct cultures, values, and perspectives. Difference becomes a clear boundary; those unlike themselves are perceived as the other—foreign and often mistrusted. Identity in Elunia is never stable; it remains fluid, fragile, and continuously reshaped by relentless change.
Among Elunia’s native beings are also the outsiders—those who enter unintentionally, carrying their own histories, obsessions, and areas of expertise. Their presence adds further complexity to the world. One such group is a collective of scientists who arrive with the intention of studying Elunia and its inhabitants. Initially, they plan to enter and leave, bringing their findings back to the outside world. Over time, however, they lose the desire to return. The rational distance and objectivity they once possessed gradually dissolve, until they become part of the very system they sought to analyze and control.
At its inception, The Parade of Characters was merely a playful endeavor. Yet over time, I found myself deeply immersed in the seriousness of creation. It felt as though the universe of Elunia possessed a will of its own—urging me to expand its reality and breathe life into ever-evolving characters. Each being carries its own narrative, constructs its own reality, and moves within a procession that appears free, yet follows an unseen rhythm.
This story has never truly been completed, and perhaps it was never meant to be. Elunia exists as a living process—a reflection on comfort, entrapment, and the quiet reluctance to question. And perhaps, without fully realizing it, I myself am not entirely outside of Elunia.
