Submerged in Second Life

Now open at the White Canvas Gallery (formerly the Good Days Gallery), curated by Goodcross is Submerged, a selection of aquatic-themed images by Elizabeth (ElizabethNantes), which she calls “an immersive experience” – a description which highlights the unique approach taken in presenting this collection.

Visitors arrive on the edge of a glass-sided pool of water, spray breaking against the rocky edge, the art displayed under the rippling surface. To view the art properly requires jumping into the tank, and then exploring it from beneath the “surface”, where bubbles drift upwards, fish and jellyfish swim and drift by, and a platypus floats gently, watching the ducks swimming above.

Eight of the images – all of which present figures at play on and under the water – are displayed around the inner walls of the tank, and are offered for sale; they face an additional four images arranged on the faces of a cube. The entire impression is that you are fully immersed in the environment – not just by being “underwater”, but very much a part of some of the scenes as those in them look towards you through the water.

This feeling of being immersed is further heightened by the careful placement of transparencies carrying the animated ebb and flow of foamy waves. These give the impression of the water’s surface (see in the centre image and the one above as a dark shade across the upper portions of the images), positioned so that some of those featured in the pictures do indeed have their heads above water. Only one – the image seen on first arrival (and heading this review)- is effectively “out” of the “water”; and even this is positioned to suggest the subject is rising from the surrounding pool.

I opted to photograph the collection against a night backdrop, as that was the local estate time when Caitlyn and I visited. However, tweaking Phototools also suggested that early morning or late afternoon windlight settings with the Sun low in the sky worked particularly well if a background of sky is required.

An imaginative collection presentation creatively presented.

SLurl Details

• The White Canvas Gallery (Rated: Moderate)