Dido Haas dropped me a line concerning an emotive exhibition by Second Life artist-photographer Christian Carter due to open at Limoncello Gallery, operated by Dave (Lord Junibalya) with the assistance of Fenella Allen, on October 1, 2026.
Dido’s note prompted me to realise I haven’t actually covered Limoncello since 2021, so before turning to Christian’s exhibition I will take a look at Limoncello as it sits within its most recent location and remains one of the longest-running art collections in Second Life.
The collection was originally founded nigh-on 20 years ago (at the time of writing) by the superbly-named LastDitch Writer in 2007, and stood as a private collection within the unique environment of a massive airship. In 2011, LastDitch departed SL for a time after the passing of his wife (although he is now again active in-world as the Chieftain of the Clan McDitch and live at Nyuvegan Castle on the Isle of NyuSkye).
Rather than vanish from SL, Limoncello passed into the care of Dave. In 2020 an annexe opened in Bellisseria, which I covered at the time. However, the main gallery now sits in a towering skyscraper rising over the City Borough of Manda Vale, itself located high above NyuSkye.
The many floors of the skyscraper contains pieces by artist right across Second Life, featuring SL landscapes, avatar studies, 3D pieces, physical world paintings. And yes, right up on the roof the airship with its gallery spaces is moored, reached via the Experience-based teleport doors on both the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground floor, where a similar teleport door connects to the Bellisseria annexe.
Movement between floors in the gallery is via elevator, which is where I have a minor niggle. Whilst “real”; the elevator is painfully slow if it is more than a couple of floors away from you. Perhaps a teleport or-whilst space-intensive – stairs might be a better choice.
But be that as it may, the entire gallery is more than worth a visit for its collective history of Second Life Art. Also, while visiting, Amanda Tamatzui has a gallery a short walk from Limocello’s front doors, whilst the far side of the Bellisseria Consulate (facing Limoncello’s tower) is Art Galleries of Second Life, presenting teleport portals to many of the galleries to be found in-world.
Christian Carter: After You
Which brings me to Christian’s After You, located within Limoncello Tower. This is a small but emotional collection of pieces mixed with text elements. To describe it, I’ll simply use some of Christian’s own words.
These photos grew out of an experience of absence, loss and the strange space that remains when someone is no longer there. They are not meant to tell a complete story, but to hold fragments of one.
– Christian Carter, After You
These fragments as thus presented in four parts: Before (or connection); Loss (or distance), Aftermath (or disappearance) and Becoming (or what comes after).
Each section comprises two or three images, each one highly minimalist in presentation whilst including individual styling. This minimalism and choice of style – monochrome, light colour wash, chiaroscuro and deep colour tone – serves to give all of the images there emotional depth.
I’m not going to offer any personal interpretation of the art; how each piece speaks to us is down to our own experience of loss and absence and how that shapes our response to these pieces.
All I will say is that loss does not doesn’t necessarily mean being physically without; loss can be felt as much by a sense of distance in terms of mental / emotional separation as by any physical absence (and can eventually result in the latter) – which is beautifully represented here by Christian is the second and third parts of After You.
A sublime and moving collection, perfectly presented, After You formally opens at 12:00 noon on October 1, 2026 and will remain in place through until December 31, 2026.
Limoncello Gallery is an ideal destination for Second Life art lovers, and After You is the ideal exhibition from which to commence a viewing of the collection.
Slurl Details
- Limoncello Gallery Tower Ground Floor (Nyunanga, rated Moderate)
- Christian Carter After You (Nyunanga, rated Moderate)
- Limoncello Bellisseria Annexe (Sirinial, rated Moderate)
Limoncello really is such a treasure in Second Life. Lovely to see you wandering through it again, Inara! I’m excited to go see Christian’s After You exhibition.
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Thank you very much for your kind words, Inara. I have no talent for art myself, but I love to visit it, collect it and appreciate it in both RL and SL. The Limoncello Art Gallery is my small way of contributing something to the SL art scene and of supporting the artists who make SL so wonderful.
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It’s a superb collection & the city setting makes for an engaging exploration as well!
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By the way I agree the elevator is realistically slow — any faster and avis wouldn’t stick — but I chose that tower building because it has an atrium open to all the gallery floors. You can fly straight up from the lobby and hover at each floor of art. You only need to use tp’s to access the airship and Bellisseria houseboat. Though for convenience there are tps to the LG Arts Theatre (where we do monthly screenings of classic movies, presented by an RL professor) and to any special exhibition in progress. There’s also a space station to visit, accessible by rocket shuttles from Manda Vale Spaceport on the other side of town from the gallery. And a bus to take you to NyuSkye and the Castle of the McDitch of that ilk.
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Yeah, I can understand on the elevator; there are few really good elevator systems available in SL. As to the rest of the region, I did poke around for a future “Exploring” / destinations write-up for the future; wanted to keep thi piece focused on the gallery / Christian’s exhibit 🙂 .
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