One of the most fascinating science fictions novels I’ve ever read is Greg Bear’s Queen of Angels (1990), containing as it does themes of consciousness, psychiatry and – notably for me – psychology. Within it, Bear uses the concept of the Country of the Mind to explore the intricate relationship between personality, actions, and our internal thoughts, both conscious and subconscious.
In particular, the idea postulates that thoughts and emotions combine within us to create a “country” of shifting and changing landscapes which influence –in ways we might not consciously be aware of or recognise ourselves – how we interact with the physical world and those who occupy it at any given time.
I was reminded of the entire idea – of which the above simple encapsulation hardly does justice – in visiting Emotion as Landscape, the new ensemble art exhibition which opened at the Maven Art Collective in Second Life on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, and hosted in a sky gallery above the Maven Art Quarter – just step through the teleport portal in the entrance of the ground-level gallery.
The exhibition brings together pieces by 16 noted artists working in both Second Life and the physical world, the central theme being the exploration of our relationship with our emotions and experiences, and how they shape the landscape of our lives – although some of the artists have leaned into emotions evoked by landscapes (which is still a fair direction to take).
As such, the art offered is both broad and deep in style and content. Featuring physical art brought into Second life, images which started life as in-world captures; and with abstract rubbing shoulders with landscape, photograph with painting and 3D with 2D – all of the pieces reflect the ever-changing landscape of emotions, whilst each piece in a series by an artist carrying an emotional theme of its own.
I don’t want to offer personal interpretations of any particular pieces here: several of the artists have their own thoughts to accompany their work, but from a consideration of Jaku (寂) through to an almost perfect personification of Bear’s Country of the Mind, these are works offering a richness of expression on the broad theme of the exhibition.
In this as well, I thoroughly recommend reading the text pieces by Janus Fall accompanying her work as a first stop on arriving in the gallery space. It marvellously sets the tone for the exhibition as a whole.
Slurl Details
- Emotion as Landscape (Maven Isle, rated Moderate)
