Category: Art in Second Life

Currently on display at the Lyric Gallery is an exhibition featuring three artists: Mareea Farrasco, Lylah Landar and FoxiBrown30.

All three are Second life photographers who between them present images that mix avatar studies and landscapes, with the latter in particular the focus of Mareena’s work, which occupies the ground floor of the gallery building. Located on the upper floor, Lylah and Foxi present pieces that lean more toward avatar studies.

The images by Mareena present a marvellous feeling of being watercolours. Taken within popular public locations in Second Life, each presents an evocative view, some of which do have an avatar focus to them, but which nevertheless offer a vista that naturally has one trying to identify the location in which it was set – if that’s not immediately apparent.

However, what makes these pieces especially evocative is the richness of narrative within each of them – with the starting point for their stories contained within their title. This narrative element is enhanced by the simplicity of the setting used for each piece. Take NorderNey Beach, for example: a view of a breakwater, an incoming tide and boat moored offshore against a haze-filled sky, and the imagination has enough to take flight.

Upstairs, Lylah continues the painting theme with some of her images, which are displayed alongside what might be considered more “traditional” photographic finishes. It is this richness of tone and style – paintings and photographs, colour and monochrome – that makes her pieces so attractive. There are many aspects of these pictures that make draw the eye to all of them, but I confess to being particularly attracted to the three alongside the stairwell: A New Day Dawns, Every Butterfly I Get Belongs to You and the piece to its right (which appear to have been mistakenly given the wrong title).  These three, to me, are simply captivating.

Foxi’s images are very much focused on avatars studies presented as photographs rather than paintings. As with the other pieces offered here, each has a story to tell. In this, there are two themes strongly apparent: contemplation / reflection and togetherness, with the fact that all of the images are untitled further adding to their depth of narrative.

Contrasting and complimentary, these are three exhibitions that are captivating and deserving not to be missed.

SLurl Details

• Lyric ArtGallery (Sea, rated: Moderate)

It was back to Kultivate’s in-world base of operations for me once more at the start of July 2019, following the opening of the newly-named Kultivate AIR Gallery (formerly part of the Windlight Gallery).

Standing for Artist In Residence, the gallery brings together Angyel Resident, Anouk Lefavre, CalystiaMoonshadow, DreamMakerXDreamBreaker Resident, GlitterPrincess Destiny, Jamee Sandalwood, JolieElle Parfort, Kody Meyers, Maaddi Benazzi, Marcel Mosswood, Myra Wildmist, Pam Astonia, Sevant Anatra and Wintergeist in a broad-ranging art display occupying one wing of the galley’s lower floor.

Mixing Second Life landscapes with physical world art, monochrome with colour, paintings with drawings, abstracted pieces with experimentalist – and with just a hint of avatar-focused studies in the form of Pam Astonia’s eye-catching Profile portraits, this is a richly engaging exhibition that demonstrates the full roundness of Second Life as a medium for displaying art.

As is always the case with ensemble exhibitions, limiting comments to just some of the artists can seem a little unfair; such is the depth and quality of art on show here, this is perhaps doubly so. However, I must admit that I did find myself particularly drawn to certain pieces.

The five photographs of SL landscapes by Anouk Lefavre, for example, framing marvellous horizon images with an opulent use of light and shadow contrasts or natural blending of haze to produce vistas that pull at the motions. Then there is Venice – Italy and England – Time of Henri VIII and Anne Boleyn (seen in the banner image for this article) by Angyel Resident. The latter of these, I believe, captures part of Tahiti Rae’s 2015 LEA installation, Love, Henry (read here for more), but both offer such a marvellous contrast of style and colour, they cannot fail to draw the eye and mind into them.

Myra Wildmist, meanwhile offers an experimental piece entitled Material Girl. You’ll need to have your viewer’s Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) enabled via Preferences > Graphics to see this piece correctly, as the nine tiles use various normal (bump) and specular (shine) maps to produce different finishes to the piece.

As a part-time builder / kitbasher, I’ve long enjoyed using materials in various builds, and normal maps in particular – if used correctly – can add depth to SL photos where post-processing has been used to make it appear as if they have been painted, sometime which is demonstrated (if on a slightly exaggerated scale, given it is designed to bring the materials to the fore) within Myra’s piece.

Then there are Sevant Anatra’s paintings of Native Americans. From portraits to capturing a part of the Anishinaabe creation story, these are marvellous, evocative studies with (again) a sense of depth and life that holds one’s attention and allows the imagination to unfold stories.

And that’s just my pick of four artists from what is a superb selection of art, so do take the time to hop over to the Kultivate AIR Gallery and take a look for yourselves.

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• Kultivate AIR Gallery (Water Haven, rated: Moderate)

The July exhibition at Kultivate Edge Gallery opened on June 23rd and will run through until late July 2019.

Specialising in monochrome art and photography, the gallery’s roll of artists comprises aht1981, DrusillaGwind, honeyBi,  KodyMeyers, understandingcomplexity, John Brianna, Eucalyptus Carroll, Davenwolf Dagger, Lena Kiopak, Nodome Resident, and Veruca Tammas.

As is always the case with The Edge, there is a rich mix of art on offer with this exhibition, from physical world photographs, as presented by John Brianna with a fascinating set of locomotive images featuring five diesel engines positioned around a marvellous picture of an old-style steam locomotive, through to evocative avatar portraits, such as those presented by KodyMeyers on the lower floor of the gallery alongside John’s display.

In many ways, I’ve always found monochrome studies of avatars to be more attractive than colour studies; its not that I have anything against the latter, its just that for me, the former carries a degree of life in the use of light and shadow that draws me in. This is true of all of the avatar studies presented here.

However, for this exhibition I found myself drawn to the physical work art on offer – John’s locomotives, together with an almost triptych of drawings by Nodome Resident and a set of eight images entitled The Blacksmith Series presented by Davenwolf Dagger.

Admittedly, part of my attraction to the latter is the fact they were taken in Launceston in Tasmania, a place (along with Richmond on the southern side of the island) for which I have happy memories. As such, the photos presented by Davenwolf piqued my curiosity and stirred those memories. But it’s not just that; each and every one of these photos is rich in detail and narrative. Similarly, Nodome’s drawings are wonderfully intricate and captivating.

But whatever your preferences for art in Second Life, the mix of physical world photos, avatar studies, art and landscapes make this a must-see exhibition.

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• The Edge Gallery (Water Haven, rated: Moderate)