As I continue to try to get back into regular blogging (and catch up with the backlog of invites and suggestions – please bear with me on this!), it was off back to Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, operated and curated by Dido Haas, to peek at a couple of exhibitions, one of which is by one of my favourite SL artists.
Within The Annex of the Gallery is a new exhibition by Nowhere B, who makes a return to the gallery, Dido having hosted Nowhere’s first solo exhibition back in 2023 (see: Intimist journeys and Zorian women in Second Life).
That exhibition presented a highly personal journal (if you will) of Nowhere’s journeys through Second Life. With Homebody Surrealism, he presents another series of images which again carry with them something of a personal subtext, but which take the observer in an entirely different direction, as Nowhere explains:
Homebody Surrealism is a domestic surrealist exploration—an inward journey into the strange and the marvelous hidden within ordinary life. It proposes that the familiar spaces we inhabit daily are not dull or exhausted, but quietly enchanted. Within the home, the most mundane objects become portals to wonder. An egg, a drawer, a window, a curtain—each holds the potential for revelation…
Homebody Surrealism invites us to look again, more slowly and more attentively. When attention deepens, the ordinary begins to shimmer with ambiguity and quiet mystery. The domestic world—so often dismissed as trivial—reveals itself as fertile ground for imagination, introspection, and awakening.
Nowhere B.
The result is a collection of highly imaginative and engaging images and pieces which are captivating when first seen, then quietly beckon us in closer to decern more of what they wish to say – or at least, invite us to see beyond the “mundane”, as Nowhere puts it.
Given the nature of the pieces, their potential subjective resonance and that touch of subtext, I’m not going to colour your thinking by offering my own thoughts on the pieces within Homebody Surrealism. Rather, I invite you to visit the exhibition yourself and see them first hand.
The main hall at Nitroglobus sees the return of Bamboo Barnes with her fifth exhibition there, one which is deeply introspective in nature and form, carrying with it the title Infinity Wall.
Bamboo is, for me, one of the most vibrant, evocative, provocative, and emotive artists in Second Life. Her work is far removed from that of other artists who mix digital techniques with images from the physical world and those from SL. Her work is both vibrant and open in its use of colour and tone, yet also deeply introspective – that latter often brought forward by her use of those same assertive colours and tone. her themed exhibitions are thus a window into art – and into the artist herself.
This is very true of Infinity Wall, which is one of the most personal of Bamboo’s exhibitions. This is very much noted by Bamboo herself:
It felt like a small universe—perhaps because both of our lives had somehow fallen out of sync with the world. Now I find myself asking questions I cannot answer alone, and at times I shrink from the pain they bring. It is like standing before an infinity wall, staring at a black dot as it slowly fades away. I no longer know where I stand—whether I am falling or floating. The only certainty is that there is nothing beneath my feet.
…Nothing is perfect, and once something begins, it moves inevitably toward its end. This is a quiet, unchangeable truth we must accept. Until that moment arrives, we drift, sometimes sink, and continue trying to create a universe we cannot hold onto forever.
Bamboo Barnes
The majority of the images in this collection are self-portraits; pieces which are deeply emotive and beautifully telling in their stories. From individual pieces through to a triptych, these pieces reveal Bamboo’s talent for setting mood and suggesting thoughts and feelings – and offering insight into her own thoughts and reflections.
As with Nowhere B’s exhibition, Infinity Wall must be seen directly rather than seen through the lens of my thinking in order to be properly heard in its messages. As such, I again thorough recommend a visit.
SLurl Details
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