Raging Bellls opened the August exhibition at her Raging Graphix Gallery on August 13th, with a selection of art by Seiko Blessing (softandred), that will run through until Sunday, September 20th, 2020.
Seiko is a physical world artist and photographer, starting in the latter at the age of 14 and graduating to the role of her high School public relations photographer whilst still a student. In adult life, she has self-published two books of photography and has seen her work exhibited in museums, galleries and coffee houses.
Raging Graphix Gallery: Seiko Blessing
For this exhibition she offers a selection of her Second Life landscape photographs, many of which are linked by heavy, evocative skies, laden with cloud through which sunlight filters. This evens may of the pieces presented what at first glance might appear to be a dour look, but which actually emphasises the settings present within each piece, delineating houses, trees, animals, boats and so on with a clarity that is captivating.
Others within the selection make rich use of depth of field to offer richly evocative images, each offering a story that easily captures the eye – so much so that I found it a little sad they were relegated to the stairwell area of the exhibit space, and they might easily be overlooked.
Raging Graphix Gallery: Seiko Blessing
Considered in their composition, tone and finish, sometimes framed with in-world props for a little extra depth, Seiko’s exhibit at Raging Graphix serves as an excellent portfolio of, and introduction to (for those unfamiliar with her photography) her work.
Etamae opened her first 3D art installation on August 15th, 2020, with Little Boxes at the Hannington Endowment for the Arts (HEA).
Little Boxes. A simple little song or a political satire about the creation of suburbia and associated conformist middle class attitudes and a reminder to us all how easy it is to lose one’s individuality to ‘fit in’.
– Etamae’s introduction to Little Boxes
Little Boxes was written in 1962 by Malvina Reynolds, an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist and initially became a hit for Pete Seeger in 1963. It was written in response to Reynolds witnessing the birth of suburbia in California through the development of tract housing like that seen in Daly City, San Francisco.
It’s a song that can easily be listened to as a little bit of fun or as a genuine satirical warning against the loss of genuine individuality in the face of the marching drive of middle-class idealism, where everyone attends the same schools and universities, seeks the same class of careers, lives among peers with the same backgrounds and careers and wanting the same precisely the same education / career path for their children.
Hannington Endowment for the Arts: Little Boxes
All of this is perfectly reflected in Eta’s installation, presenting as it does five gaily-coloured little house boxes visitors are invited to enter, each one reflecting within it as specific element of the song’s lyrics (with more on the walls outside) that can be read or – with a click on them – listened to. This makes it something of a simple, light-hearted visit, or a piece to give us pause to reflect on the whole question of individually vs. conformity, which has become perhaps even more prevalent in the decades since the song was first recorded – and in far more than just middle-class suburbia.
Whether you opt to look at Eta’s little Boxes as a tongue-in-cheek installation, or an underscoring of Reyonold’s song, it’s worth hopping over to HEA and taking a look at it and the other installations on offer there. In the meantime here’s the song.
New gallery spaces for PAC artists at Cherished Melody
Friends on Twitter know that my blogging has slowed of late as I’ve been working on a number of projects. One of these is that of some major updates on behalf of the Phoenix Artists Collaboration (PAC).
Cutting a long story short, after PAC lost the ability to use a dedicated full region, Audie Whimsy and I volunteered space for the group, Audie offering a part of her own Full region, whilst I – as the former curator of Holly Kai Park – was able to secure space for some of the group there (see Providing a home for PAC in Second Life and Phoenix Artists Collaboration: April update).
Nine of the new gallery spaces with gardens at Cherished Melody
More recently, it has become apparent this arrangement is not beneficial to the group. The whys and wherefores aren’t important; suffice it to say that thanks to Audie, we’re now able to take the step of consolidating all artists in the group into a single location once again, and we hope that this will allow us to finally kick-start art and other events more centrally, and in the knowledge we have full autonomy in managing our location.
So right now, I’m in the middle of working with Audie to expand the Cherished Melody sky platform to accommodate the 30 artists presently at Holly Kai Park. It’s work that is taking time, as Audie has worked hard to create a unique environment at Cherished Melody, and it’s important that what we do in increasing the platform’s capacity both blends in with Audie’s work without dramatically changing things – and without inconveniencing the artists already there.
We’ve still got a fair amount of work to do!
As it is, the first eight studio galleries are now in place, complete with the core landscaping and garden space (with room for 3D art displays within the garden). A second group of eight units is nearing completion, and we’re working on developing new exhibition spaces for use by members for their own exhibitions as well as group art displays.
All things being equal, the initial work should be completed before the end of August at which time we’ll start to transition the artists at Holly Kai Park over to Cherished Melody. Once that has been done, we’ll be looking to finally gets started on an active programme of activities and events, including:
The long-awaited start to group exhibitions.
Featured Artist exhibitions.
New teaching / learning opportunities via a new Workshop area that will include lessons being streaming into Second Life by artists and photographers.
Opening-out the PAC website to allow members to blog about their work, exhibitions they are a part of, etc.
Five more studios and garden under construction
Cherished Melody remains open for visits during the work, and artists already based there do not have to do anything. However, we would ask that if you do drop in,be aware that things are unsettled around the outer edges of the platform, and do please note the Under Construction signs – we don’t want to have people finding a building or garden suddenly dropping on their heads or whooshing off from under them without warning in the construction areas!
Monsters are real, ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win.
– Stephen King
This is the quote Cica Ghost uses to introduce her August 2020 build, Monsters. Occupying a Homestead region, this is another build that encompasses whimsy whilst also – perhaps – carrying a more pointed message.
Scattered across a strangely undulating landscape stand four large structures, each with two walls apiece. Were they all to be brought together, they might form a house of sorts. But as it is, they each offer a scene in a room of a dwelling: a lounge, two bedrooms and spare room devoid of furnishings on the same scale as found in the others.
Cica Ghost: Monsters
The two bedrooms are occupied by dwellers of the would-be house; one appears to be fast asleep, and other perched on the edge of her bed, feet tucked carefully up as she reads one of a number of books piled in her room. However, these people are not the focus of the build; that is reserved for the plethora of creatures to be found within and without the different rooms, and who lend their name to the installation’s title.
Bipeds, quadrupeds, tall, short, with arms (some times more than the accepted pair!) without arms, some with tails, others sans ears and one with an interesting collection of mouths, Cica’s monsters are waiting to greet and amuse those who visit.
Cica Ghost: Monsters
And yes, I do mean amuse. Such are their looks and expressions, these monsters are hardly the stuff of nightmare – a fact some of them appear to be only too aware, given their glum faces. Rather, they all like like the type of monster unlikely to bring home the screams for a certain famous corporation of Disney lore, but that would all too quickly become a play friend to any youngster they happen upon.
Those in the “living room” of the “house” seem particularly cognizant of their lack of scare factor as they form a group and drink coffee, one idly fishing off the side of the platform, all of them ignoring the entreaties of a four-footed fiend on the grass below to come play. It’s in these glum looks that it is possible to perceive that deeper element embodied in the use of the Stephen King quote: given that often the worse monsters are the ones inside of the humans they are meant to scare, is there any need for the ones we might fear as being under out beds to ever come out?
Cica Ghost: Monsters
Some, however are trying to make the best of things, playing outside and waiting to offer a smile and wave to visitors. For this reason, as much as any other, whether you choose to follow the interpretation given above or not, you should hop along to Monsters and see it for yourself. And if you take a liking to one of Cica’s little chaps, be sure to find your way to the Monster Shop in the region’s south-east corner, where you can pick one up at take it home! And when exploring, be sure to mouse-over things: as always, Cica has included assorted perches and animations for people to enjoy!
Currently on display at the Kultivate Signature Gallery, curated by Johannes Huntsman, and running through until the end of August 2020, is an exhibition of art from the physical world painted by KismaKSR – or Kisma K. Stepanich-Reidling as she is known outside of Second Life.
Defining Kisma isn’t easy, as she is a woman of many talents – artist, published author, curator (notably working with Reiner Schneiber, head curator for various worldwide Biennales), gamer, therapeutic art life coach, immersive 2D / 3D artist, and currently a creativity teacher-in-training! As an artist, she works in a range of mediums including acrylics, watercolours, gouache, pastels, coloured pencils, graphite, texture paste, stencils, and more.
I paint what I see inside. I love working in art journals, creating altered book art journals, and taking my creations from the page to the canvas… and on occasion from the canvas to the page! My creative journey is based in watercolours but has taken me into so many mediums that I believe I love acrylics the most.
I love working in layers… lots and lots of layers, distressing paintings, vibrant colourful paintings, collage paintings and sketch paintings. I also work with encaustic wax and fibres, throwing in the making of journals and fibre weaving to create embellished covers.
– Kisma K. Stepanich-Reidling
Kultivate Signature Gallery: KismaKSR
For her exhibition at Kultivate’s Signature gallery, Kisma presents 16 reproductions of her physical world art that fully embody her approach to her subject: all richly expressive, some offering hints of expressionism, others perhaps leaning a little towards surrealism and still others more abstracted in nature. Every piece speak of Kisma’s Intentional Creativity approach to her work: the act of being aware of thoughts, ideas, feelings, and of self, and allowing all of this to inform and shape whatever task is being undertaken – be it making a soup to writing a musical score or – as in this case – producing works of art.
These are pieces that also include subtle cultural undertones to them that can be form in form, style, colour and symbolism. These touches add further depth to Kisma’s work, infusing them with a sense of of humankind’s cultural heritage through the ages – something we tend to too easily lose sight of in the modern age of technology and bustle.
Mareea Farrasco is a Second Life photographer whose work covers a broad range, from avatar studies to landscapes – the latter oft processed to resemble paintings – and the literal to the metaphorical, producing images that can contain within them a rich narrative or which offer the confluence of shape and form to present a simple statement or comment.
Many of these elements are presented to us through her exhibition at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, curated by Dido Haas, with the exception of examples of her landscape work – for reasons that will become clear. Entitled Claustrophobia, the exhibition takes as its theme the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, but from an angle that perhaps has not gained the attention it deserves.
When asked to define “claustrophobia”, most people are liable to go with its more well-known meaning: an abnormal dread of being in closed or narrow spaces. However, the word has another meaning, one not so often considered and that is a feeling of discomfort or discontent caused by being in a limiting or restrictive situation or environment, and it is this second definition that Mareea focuses upon.
We live, these days, in a confined, pandemic universe of our own, and we are all more or less “claustrophobic”, even without suffering from this disorder in our normal, healthy lives. This exhibition is my metaphoric way to express those feelings, trying to rationalise them, in order to make them endurable.
– Mareea Farrasco, introducing Claustrophobia
Now to confess, on first seeing the 14 images presented for the exhibition, I fell into the trap of looking at them through the lens of that more popular definition of “claustrophobia”, and while there are one or two that contain elements that most certainly do convey a sense of physically restricted space and / or a sensation of the walls closing in (notably Claustrophobia (6) and Claustrophobia (7)), I initially felt the exhibit, focused as it is on studies of an individual avatar, could just as easily be called “solitude”, without any need to reference the pandemic.
It was only when I broadened my consideration to that second definition foe “claustrophobia” that I was struck by the manner in which Mareea has perfectly encompassed it through each of the pieces offered in this exhibit, and seamlessly linked them to offer expressions of how we have been forced into am artificial sense of “claustrophobic distancing” because of the pandemic. It doesn’t matter if we’re home alone or with family, we have been forced to artificially limit our environment and interactions to an extent that expressions of solitude are all we actually have left; circumstance demanding that as constrained as we are, we turn our thoughts inwards.
Seen it this light, all of the pieces here are subtle and evocative explorations of thoughts and feelings that reflect our desire – our longing – for more normal times. At the same time, there is perhaps a deeper aspect to be considered. Whilst physical distancing from friends, colleagues, neighbours and all might well be a requirement for all of us, many of us do at least have family with who we can at least find some release from that sense of isolation – but what of those who live alone? For them, the routine of isolation has potentially been amplified by the pandemic; through Mareea’s images, we perhaps catch a glimpse of all they face.
