Day: June 3, 2024

Cayla (YumiYukimura) invited me to visit her latest exhibition at Saint Elizabeth’s Studio and Gallery in Second Life, which opened on Monday, June 3rd, 2024. Entitled Monochrome Memories, and with the sub-title of Shades of Adolescence, its an exhibition that is somewhat personal for Cayla and which has – being frank – drawn mixed feelings from me on viewing it.

The personal aspect of the exhibition comes from the fact it is rooted in a physical work project Cayla undertook, as noted in the her introduction to the exhibition:

When I was a young teacher and photographer, I was invited to participate in a group exhibition at a prestigious local art gallery. I had to develop, process, mat, and frame the photographs in my own, one person, professional darkroom. During my free prep periods, at school, I would select a student, take them outside, and have them self pose against a wall of the school building dressed in their everyday attire. This was during the 1970s and 1980s. 

Unfortunately, all of my original photographs were destroyed in a flood, including the negatives. The AI-generated pictures presented here evoke memories of those I captured during that time. Just like the originals, these AI pictures are in black-and-white.

Cayla (YumiYukimura) on Monochrome Memories

Cayla also note that during that original exhibition, several of the artists commented on how her images reminded them of the black-and-white photography of Indiana-born and Arkansas-based photographer Mike Disfarmer (1884-1959). He spent a good portion of his adult life living and working in a small photography studio where he would create and sell images of the local townsfolk and those from the surrounding area. As a working photographer, selling set of three photographs at 50 cents, Disfarmer never really garnered much attention during his life – and this might have remained true following his death, but for the 1970 discovery of a cache of his original glass negatives still located with the premises of his former studio.

Carefully catalogued, restored and preserved, these negatives formed the basis for two exhibitions of Disfarmer’s photography – and catapulted him into the realm of well-regarded and celebrated Outsider Artists, his ability to portray the lives of everyday folk in a starkly realistic manner which has come to symbolise life in the mid-west of the United States in the middle of the 20th century.

Within Monochrome Memories, Cayla presents a collection of AI generated pieces which seek to both re-capture the core theme of her original physical world exhibition in that the subjects are (as per the exhibition’s sub-title) predominantly young / adolescent subjects pictured against a wall, whilst mixing-in a touch of Disfarmer in that that all carry either a neutral or (in some cases) slightly dour expression. In this way – and again like Disfarmer – they might be said to offer a stark, unblemished view of people joined not by art, but by the environment in which they live; thus offering a collective snapshot in time.

There is much that is attractive about this collection in its own right, as well as in the manner in which it seeks to offer an echo of a former display and present a reinterpretation of Disfarmer’s approach to photography. For example, I particularly liked the subtle use of self-portraiture (in terms of Cayla’s Profile image avatar) within the collection, and the little touches of humour (the bearded “JC” standing against a wall and reading a Bible-like tome and with a church steeple visible behind him, for example).

That said, I will admit that the very fact these are AI images at their heart gave me issues; I have an admitted ambivalence towards such art for many reasons – including the way in which I feel it can all too easily detract from an artist’s intent more than add to it. Here, for example, it was just a handful of images that kept demanding my attention; not because of the artistry or narrative evident in them, but because they looked to me as if the AI tool had simply lifted from photographs of Tilda Swinton, Bob Dylan and James Dean, Phil Lynott and others. Whilst not Cayla’s fault, this reaction lifted me away from an appreciation of her work and into the realm of pondering the merits of AI tools – and for that, I apologise to her.

Nevertheless, I do see this as an exhibition worthy of viewing, and thus commend it to you.

SLurl Details

• Saint Elizabeth’s Studio and Gallery (Dark Dreamer, rated Adult)