Fine Arts grad completes Fascinating opus

Stais, a leading architectural and commercial designer in Athens, began working on his 500-page opus five years ago, around the time he turned 50 and decided he needed to create something completely new.

For inspiration he drew on his past, specifically his experience as a young student in Montreal in the late 1980s.

After completing degrees in graphic design and set and costume design in Greece, Stais came to Concordia on a scholarship to further his studies in set and costume design in the Department of Theatre.

He credits his professors with teaching him how to become more open-minded and work collaboratively, which he attributes much of his creative and professional success to.

“The final farewell counsel from my valued advisor Pat Flood — ‘Don’t be a firework’ — has guided me at every stage of my career,” says Stais. “I understood this to mean, ‘Don’t rush unless you have something interesting to show.  Take your time to build your success and your image.’”

The message stayed with him. “I have tried to work methodically, to keep myself organized, to be a team player and to remain modest,” he says.

“I preferred to be a useful partner to my clients rather than an inflated know-it-all. Perhaps I had to complete a half-century of life to fully realize how much I had been influenced by Concordia and my time in Canada.”

Stais adds, “That is probably why, when I decided to concentrate into one undertaking all my experiences from the arts I unobtrusively served all these years, the result was directly related to Canada.”

Learning to fly

The graphic novel follows Elissei, a lonely Quebecois hacker whose secret talent is that he can fly. It was also inspired by a recurring dream that Stais had around the time he was working on the story — that he himself could fly.

“The idea that a kind of superpower that had to remain hidden really spoke to me,” he says. “It both frees and imprisons Elissei.”

Stais uses his creative output, no matter the medium, to tell stories and share his feelings.

“I’ve always been a storyteller, it’s what I do,” he says. “Creating feelings, this is art. I don’t really see what I do as a designer any differently from what I do as a storyteller.”

He considers the fantastical book to be among his proudest achievements. However, taking it from manuscript to published novel has been a bit of an ongoing odyssey.

Stais is currently seeking a publisher for his novel, yet so far cash-strapped Greek publishers have been unwilling to take a chance on his book. So he has set his sights on an English translation to get his work published in Canada.

With the financial crisis Greece, there has been much uncertainty. And while Stais is thankful that his professional work has remained more or less consistent, he observes that many of his fellow Greeks are feeling low these days.

“The period of deep economic crisis afflicting my country coincided with the years of writing this book, affecting it both positively and negatively,” he says.  

The crisis did have a positive impact on him. “It made me even more determined, as it did all the Greeks. It pushed me to seek out and find the time to work seriously on something I’ve always wanted to do but had always put off due to my busy ‘developed’ daily routine,” says Stais.

“Even with our beautiful, sunny weather, it’s peculiar to be surrounded by such sad faces. It’s something new for us. So for me, the novel is my medicine, and a well-chosen one at that.”

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