Day: November 4, 2024

I’ve had the pleasure of writing about the art of Kitten (Joaannna) since 2022, and have never ceased to be stunned by her artistic ability when it comes to Second Life photography. Her work spans both landscape and avatar studies, with the former as engaging and rich as those of another Second Life landscape photographer I have long admired, Ziki Questi. Kitten’s avatar studies are equally as rich and evocative – and also contain that element I always enjoy with such pieces: the telling of, or hinting to, a story that reaches well beyond the framing of the subject.

I first encountered the latter during Kitten’s 2022 exhibition Nior, at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (which also hosted Kitten’s Fourth Wall in 2023), and also through the like of Tales from the Wastelands, also in 2023.

Now Kitten has a further avatar-centric exhibition available for viewing. Hosted at the Kondor Art Centre, operated and curated by Hermes Kondor, Gothic present sixteen black-and-white images which carry with them strong Gothic / Victorian themes, and which touch on horror, mystery and a touch of literature.

I’ve no idea if thoughts of Halloween  – the exhibition opened on October 31st – sparked the idea for this collection of works, but the fact is that whether it did or not really doesn’t matter; these are pieces for all seasons, and which carry with them a richness of narrative that draws one into them.

Some might overtly put one in mind of classic literature, whilst others do so perhaps in a more subtle manner. Spectral Hound is perhaps the most obvious among the former, bringing forth as it does thoughts of Conan Doyle’s classic tale of The Hound of the Baskervilles, set within the Victorian era; whilst We Have Always Lived In a Castle and Gargoyle might act on that more subtle level, perhaps leading one to thoughts of Bram Stoker and Dracula.

However, the truth is, each of these 16 pieces stands in is own right as a prompter for the imagination. No reference of literature is really required; only the ability to view each in turn and allow it to speak as the eyes travel over its detail, the words of the tale it wishes to tell evident in the pose and poise of the central character (Kitten herself) and the response to her by everything around her- animate and inanimate.

And I do mean response; setting and character in each image are deeply intertwined, rather than one being the backdrop for the other, as might be the case with a portrait; everything has to be considered as a whole. As to what the stories themselves might be is a matter for Kitten’s images and your imagination; I’ve said more than enough here – other than, as ever, Kitten’s art continues to engaging and enthral –  and I will leave it to you to visit and see what the art says to you.

SLurl Details

• Kondor Art Centre (Royal Tea, rated Adult)