Sventura: Island of Misfortune
July 7, 2024
Since 2016, I have been developing an imaginary island concept called Sventura. The idea came from an assignment I had in art school to create and design a fictive country’s currency. With Italy always on my mind, I chose an Italian word, Sventura, as a name for the nation. The word means “misfortune.”
At this time, my sister was doing environmental impact studies in the Italian Alps. She spoke of the devastating ecological consequences of deforestation and climate change on alpine farming. At the same time she sent me photos of a place so beautiful it didn’t seem like a part of our world. Such contrasts often come up – just imagine a glowing sunrise in the Bahamas above a sea of plastic.
Sventura is an allegory for our world. The inhabitants have gone gray as a metaphor for our current geological epoch – one in which nuclear radiation is a part of our DNA. Sventura is meant to remind us that we are inextricably connected to our environment. In the story of Sventura, the children restore color to the island using natural and humanmade systems of communication. So far, I have been receiving “visions” of the island. The island, restored to color, will be called Avventura (adventure), and that will be the premise for the second book.
Sventura’s territories
Sventura is an island with 5 territories, a central lake (the lagoon), and a Mother Goddess (the Entity). Each territory has its own characters. There are the Silvians, the forest people who record the island’s memories by inscribing them onto the trees; the Flosians, the flower people who cultivate their land in colorful stripes and nourish the inhabitants with fruits and vegetables; the Cuspians, who on their snowy peaks raise livestock and dragons; and the Lacunians, the mysterious creatures of the Lagoon who defend the island from invaders rising from the inner channel. There is also the Desert of the Banished, where those who have committed crimes wander and receive lessons from mirages. The Entity lives in a castle above the Lagoon and cries endlessly, repeatedly flooding the island. Finally, there is a new and mysterious nameless territory filled with sandy cauldrons of a bubbling sap. My favorite territory to paint is the Flosian territory, and I also love to draw the Mother Goddess in her different iterations.
Here is a sampling of images from Sventura over the years. I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and response to this project. If you would like to follow along, please join my mailing list.
