“I always find that life is like a certain road. A path you walk on from birth to death. While walking that path you constantly can choose which direction you go,” Elin Egoyan states when introducing her exhibition Life Is A Journey, now open at the Paris METRO Art Gallery. “But also you are sometimes forced to go a certain direction, if you like it or not. Because of things that happen with or around you your path can suddenly make curves or slips into a total different direction then you ever could have imagined.”
It’s a thoughtful and somewhat philosophical statement, leading into a somewhat introspective piece, revealing some of Elin’s physical world while throwing open the doors to those broader questions we all tend to ask ourselves from time to time on the subjects of life, purpose, progression, growth – or as Elin succinctly puts it, “what for (bleep) sake is the purpose of this stroll through life?”
At first glance, the introduction and notes given under the title of the exhibition might seem as odds with the exhibition itself. Displayed within the gallery are 24 pieces of Elin’s physical world art, together with a number of supporting in-world creations. The paintings are all bold statements, some decidedly abstract in nature, others more pictorial. Some stand alone, others carry a theme, existing as both individual pieces or joined forming natural sets of images – this being most notable in the selection of Dreamtree paintings, linked as they are to one another and the poem A Tree, A Dream.
However, the link between exhibition title and musings on life can be found on a number of levels. All of the paintings, all of the in-world creations by Elin reflect her own journey in life, her travels in self-discovery, learning and finding those things which bring her joy. Similarly, several of the pieces reflect the idea of life’s journey directly and through their titles. Then there is the rich use of colour and form, reflective of the richness of life and the fact that our journey is rarely straight, and at times choices must be made.
All of this makes Life Is A Journey something of a thought-provoking exhibit for those willing to look beyond initial impressions. But so to does it reinforce the simple pleasures life can bring us: the use of line, colour and abstraction in these paintings make each of them a genuine pleasure to appreciate.
Some hold that “real life” art doesn’t translate well into the virtual medium of Second Life. I tend to disagree. There is no reason why the full richness of an artist’s talent and intent cannot translate into the virtual medium any less well than a post-processed or cropped image originally captured in Second Life, and Elin’s pieces more than exemplify this simple fact.
SLurl Details
- Life Is A Journey, Paris METRO Art Gallery (Paris Couture, rated: Moderate)
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