Category: Art in Second Life

Open through October at the NovaOwl Sky Gallery is an exhibition of art by Louvre (Iamlouvre), a physical world artist who is now making her mark in Second Life, having joined (I believe) in 2021. This is the first time I have witnessed at exhibition of her work, and found it to be richly expressive.

Entitled Agua (the Spanish for “water”), this is an exhibition which fully embraces the space in which it displayed, Louvre demonstrating that as well as being a skilled artist, she has an innate sense of space and design, offering an environment that neatly folds itself around the exhibition’s theme, with the art split between the two levels of the gallery.

Water symbolises much more than an infinite space where we lose ourselves
when we look to sea. Water symbolises transformation, Life. All of us are water.  

– Louvre (Iamlouvre)

On the upper level, prints of her work are mounted on easels and walls, some of the latter backed by curtains of water tumbling to the floor below. On the lower level, this water spreads across a floor decorated with squares, some just below the surface other rising above it. All offer a sense of being stepping stones, encouraging visitors to make their way across them. These squares and mirrored by cubes and blocks climbing up the walls, the shimmering curtains of water visible in the gaps between them.

Close to the gallery entrance, sixteen cubes present sixteen paintings by Louvre, each painting repeated on all six faces of the cubes. Further back sit two larger cubes, each with an image of one of her paintings projected within it whilst further pieces are mounted on easels in an intentionally understated display, the entire level dominated by a single piece entitled Submarine.

Almost all of the paintings might be seen as portraits of a most unique kind. Few present a complete individual; rather they present images wherein the subjects are blurred or obscured, as if seen through a sheen of water, or with their subjects incomplete of cracked and fractured. In amongst them are paintings of a more abstract nature, but even these contain a sense of water-like fluidity and motion.

All of this is heavily suggestive of the opening lines of Louvre’s description for Agua, of water giving, being and transforming life. But there is more here as well, as Louvre goes on to note:

Water is also the tears produced by pain and sorrow. It is the force of the DANA flood that just hit my city. Washing away the homes of many neighbours and friends, taking within it their daily objects and their homes. Never in all my life have I been able to contemplate a greater disaster so closely. 

Water is the effort of my hands helping them, to the point of exhaustion, with water and more water.

– Louvre (Iamlouvre)

Storm Dana lashed Spain with torrential rain in early September, causing widespread flooding, particularly in the region of Castilla La-Mancha, home to the cities of Madrid and Toledo, with water levels rising such that streets, major transport arteries  – and most particularly, homes were overwhelmed. Such was the force of the water in places that cars were overturned or smashed together and evacuations were ordered. At least two deaths occurred, and several more people were reported missing.

It is this devastation, this sense of loss Louvre conveys through her paintings through their blurred / missing / incomplete elements. This reflection of Dana’s destruction is – as Louvre notes – very personal. She has witnessed the loss and hurt it has caused, and sought to help alleviate it through practical support for those around her hit by the storm’s ferocity. That this has also triggered her creativity through her art additionally completes the circle represented by Agua: that as a force of nature, water has the power to both positively and negatively bring about transformative experiences in life.

SLurl Details

• NovaOwl Sky Gallery (Novatron, rated General)

As I write this, it is a little over nine months since Aneli Abeyante announced that her long-running Second Life Art gallery, La Maison d’Aneli would be closing at the end of its (then) new exhibition, which opened on December 14th, 2022. However, passions, ideas and creativity tend not to always behave or turn out as we planned, and frequently have a habit of demanding release even when we think otherwise.

Here I am at the end of my adventure as a gallery owner, of course I will stay on Second Life as a simple artist … I thank all the people who accompanied me …. what a beautiful adventure we have shared, more than twelve years with an exhibition per month, and you always there. Long live creation!

– Aneli Abeyante, December 2022

In Aneli’s case – and to our good fortune – La Maison d’Aneli refused to simply pass into Second Life history, and instead insisted she continue to breathe life into it and allow it to continue to bring regular ensemble exhibitions. And so it is that, on September 27th, 2023, the gallery officially re-opened with a set of five individual exhibitions by noted SL artists.

Occupying a location pretty close to (if not right on top of) that of the last iteration of itself, La Maison d’Aneli once again offers its familiar ground-level landing point, complete with event venue and exhibition hub. The latter presents direct teleports to each of the current exhibitions in progress, while a separate additional teleport disk network allows for quick transfers between allow five and a return to the ground level.

For its re-opening, the gallery features exhibitions by Asperix Asp, Xirana Oximoxi, Morlita Quan, Deyanira Yalin and Aneli herself. Given the names involved, you can be sure that these are exhibits that will engage both eye and mind, and it is recommended that they are each visited under the default Shared Environment and with Advanced Lighting Model enabled.

Asperix Asp is a digital artist hailing from Spain and who has been creating and displaying his digital artwork since 1985, not long after trade more traditional methods of artistic expression for the keyboard, mouse, monitor screen and other tools of the digital age. His work has been critically acclaimed and award-winning, and over time has grown from purely 2D to encompass 3D modelling and seeking expression through diverse natural inspiration – such as via paludarium (a type of vivarium incorporating both terrestrial and aquatic aspects). From  2007 through 2014 he explored and exhibited his work within virtual spaces such as Second Life, before taking a leave of absence through until 2020.

Within this exhibition he presents a selection of his fractal art under the title Demiurgia. It comprises sixteen quite exquisite pieces, each one exhibiting the beauty of finely-crafted jewellery. But whether each image is that of an individual piece, or represents the focus on a single facet of a much larger piece, is impossible to say; each image is unique unto itself, yet all are bound one to another through the subtle use of colour, tone, form and finish.

Two-dimensional art they may be; but there is something fundamentally tactile captured within each one, as if in reaching out to them we could feel the soft cold/warmth of the metal, the tiny crystal-like roughness of the filigrees and burnished peaks and troughs formed by the turn of the metals.  These are pieces we can see are formed through the artistry of a true artesian – and in that, the title for the exhibition has been well chosen.

Hailing from Catalonia, Xirana Oximoxi is an artist whose work is very much driven by a mix of her experiences, moods and outlook, informed by impressions and reflections on the world at large. As such, her work is constantly in flux, often being driven by the words on the printed page or as a result of a day’s reflections or through research into ideas and explorations of new means of expressionism.

With the Undefined, she presents reflections on the relationship between an artist – in this case a cartoonist – and the characters they create. It’s a story itself told in the form of a comic strip. It is very much driven by that process of discovery, research and expression. As Xirana notes in introducing it:

The comic strips tell stories of everyday life, dreams, fantasies and thoughts. The main objective is to learn how to create cartoons by doing it and also to make the reader smile. They are inspired by nonsense, by that is silly and illogical and by the Theatre of the Absurd.

– Xirana Oximoxi

However, within this flow of apparent light-heartedness runs a deeper pondering: who is ultimately in control of things? The cartoonist or the characters and creations to which they give birth and form? Is it the artist who drives the creative process – or the creative process which drives the artist?

Morlita Quan is a multi-faceted artist I’ve long admired, having written about her art and installations within Second Life on numerous occasions within this blog. As a musician and recording artist specialising in experimental music, she has achieved considerable success. Starting in 2008 and continuing through to the present, she has particularly sought to combine music and other art forms utilising emerging technologies, often collaborating with numerous Fine Arts universities and also with other artists – be they visual, musical, spoken word or performance.

As a visual artist, Morlita has followed a similar path of experimentation with genres, techniques, subjects and forms (both 2D and 3D), as well as seeking to collaborate with other artists in both physical and virtual spaces. Here she presents a broad cross-section of her work: abstract paintings, 3D pieces, photographs; studies of the natural and still life captures brought together in a compelling and stunningly fluid selection of work.

“Experimentalist” is a term which might also be used with Deyanira Yalin. Having begun her artistic journey painting in oils and acrylics and participating in physical world expositions in Mexico City, the years she expanded her technique and portfolio, firstly through other canvas-based media prior to embracing digital means to explore new opportunities and potentials  – something which brought her to Second Life.

More recently – and like many artists in L and beyond – she has more recently started to experiment with the Midjourney AI tool, about which she notes:

It is a new platform for artists to express what we think and how we visualize the piece. It has made a significant impact on me and my creativeness, and you will see that influence in some of these pieces in the exhibit. But, I add my own personal touch and interpretation with Photoshop to each piece to give it my artistic personalisation.

– Deyanira Yalin

Like many, I am admittedly ambivalent about Midjourney and its growing popularity, largely as a result of the blasé attitude those behind the application have towards matters of copyright and fair use (a criticism not limited to Midjourney, to be sure).

However, like any tool, the key to something like Midjourney is how it is employed and what the user  – artist or otherwise – brings to the table for use alongside Midjourney in order to create art, rather than simply combine images from other sources to meet a descriptive requirement (which is essentially what Midjourney does). In this, Deyanira demonstrates she brings a lot to the table by way of her own artistry and talent, as the pieces offered in her exhibition at la Maison Aneli demonstrate.

For her exhibition Aneli takes us into a 3D world of animated prims and images. There is not a lot to say about this installation – not because it lacks for description, but rather because its geometry and form should be seen and appreciated rather than merely described

SLurl Details

• La Maison d’Aneli (Virtual Holland, rated Moderate)
• Asperix Asp
• Xirana Oximoxi
• Morlita Quan
• Deyanira Yalin
• Aneli Abeyante

Mounting an exhibition comprising some 44 self-portraits might sound like an exercise in narcissistic self-expression; and there are probably artists around the world where this reaction, were they to present such an exhibition, would be justified. However, Lis Xia (Xia Chieng) is most assuredly not one of them. While her work tends to be self-centric, it does so without the more negative demands of ego and most certainly without any connotations of narcissism.

Rather, in being focused on herself, Xia’s self-portraits are reflections of a much deeper, sled-explorative mechanism. One offered through a range of mediums – photography, painting, digital post-processing, drawing and even film, Lis’ art reflects her journey through life, her inner dialogues with self, her desire to reveal to herself the person she actually is and her relationship with the world at large.

In this, Lis’ images – individually and collectively – can be seen as a narrative; a series of stories which are both interwoven one to the next but also standing apart from any contiguous meaning or conceived literally direction. Each image can be appreciated and reflected upon in its own right as a work of art, whilst collectively they embody an existential enquiry which is individual to the artist. True, there are times when Lis chooses to focus on a specific element within her life – such as dealing with her Asperger’s, which formed the nucleus of two exhibitions Lis presented in 2021: Visions of an Aspie (reviewed here) and Assburguer’s Mood Diary (reviewed here), but more often she casts her exhibitions more widely.

I am on personal journey; personal exploration into the essence of the live; the nature of the relationship between my senses, ideas and perceptions and the external world; my conception of space and substance. Only things that are personal can be truly real for me.

– Lis Xia (Xia Chieng)

Such is the case with Portraits of an Obsession, which opened at Hermes Kondor’s Kondor Art Centre in mid-September and will run through until mid-October. Comprising the aforementioned 44 self-portraits, through its title it acknowledges Lis’ fascination with using art to better define who she is and express the truths of her inner nature and perceptions whilst also facing the personal and demons which might strive to deny her the freedom, self-expression and self-appreciation.

In this, Portraits almost follows on – albeit indirectly – from 2019’s Xia’s Diary (reviewed here) by associating each image with a poem or ode, thus allowing the observer to not only witness her thoughts and feelings as expressed through an image, but also ride the train of her thinking and feelings very directly through line and stanza. Thus, we are invited to join Lis in her experience and expression, and allow both to resonate with our own thoughts and emotions, as Lis notes herself:

Images and poetry converge through the use of vintage medium format cameras and expired film. The photographs capture moments steeped in nostalgia and emotion. Alongside these visuals, some illustrations rendered in gouache, ink, and pencil techniques add depth and texture to the narrative. … Through the fusion of visual and written elements, my goal is to convey a deeper meaning or narrative, inviting viewers to interact with the art on multiple levels and awakening their imagination and emotions.

– Lis Xia (Xia Chieng)

Within these images and poems there is a resonance which might naturally, if subconsciously occur even without a deeper exploration of the ideas and feelings Lis presents. Think about how much time we spend tweaking, adjusting, changing, improving it in looks, appearance and appeal; is this not a similar form of self-exploration? Does not the canvas of our avatar allow us, through each adjustment, each change, large or small, help to express what lies within us, enabling us to to find better affirmation of both who we are an who we wish to be?

Through her art – visual and written, Lis has refined this process to a point where not only can we see her own journey, her own experiments and experiences with self – we can witness a reflection of our own. In doing so, we are naturally drawn closer to the work on display, and thus into Lis’ own world; and while we may not come to understand all that is being said we can at witness the beauty of her soul.

SLurl Details

• Kondor Art Centre (Waka, rated Moderate)

Two of the things I can appreciate in life are coffee and art. When it comes to the former, I take pride in being both an appreciator and a creator; I very much believe in the “old” saying life is too short for bad coffee, and always enjoy a well-made cup and genuinely enjoy making my own from beans to cup (by way of automatic prosumer coffee maker or a Cafetiere / French Press or a Moka pot, depending on mood / company). When it comes to the latter, however, I’m strictly an appreciator because I can neither draw nor paint. 

However, with LiThO Gallery I’ve found that I can enjoy both – and can combine my coverage of the arts in SL with my occasional series of cafés and coffee houses in Second Life whilst also making my way back to the Corsica South Coasters community, which I’ve also written about on numerous occasions (most notably in covering exhibitions at NovaOwl Galleries). Sub-titling itself the tiny art(ist) Café, LiThO offers a neat little play on words whilst also fulfilling its primary purpose: a place to relax and enjoy art.

The play on words – as the notes from owners Lizzy Swordthain and Tom Willis available from the café’s terrace explain – first off takes the short-form of lithography, the planographic method of printing developed by author and actor Alois Senefelder, and most frequently used initially for musical scores and maps. In the second, it is a tease on their SL names. It occupies one of three parcels the couple have developed, the one alongside the café offering an open-air event space (although the café also has one of its own up on the roof and reached via stairs to one side of the building). The reaming parcel, to the rear of the café, is a private home, the two separated by the gully and bridge – the latter marking the limit of public spaces.

As a gallery space, the café hosts modest exhibitions in casual boutique style. Pieces from the invited artist are displayed the the two covered wings of the terrace and on the walls of the café’s rooms. At the time of my visit the gallery was playing host to an exhibition of Second Life landscapes by Michiel Bechir  – an artist whose work is always worth seeing. It opened on September 3rd, 2023, so has a while to run for those wishing to visit without feeling rushed. The select of pieces – 15 in total are well-suited to the ambience of the café and offer engaging views of some of Second Life’s most popular public regions, past and present.

Cosy and nicely presented, LiThO makes for an easy-going visit, and the trails and paths around it offer opportunities for exploration.

SLurl Details

• LiThO Gallery (Durdane, rated Moderate)

Melusina Parkin has been expanding both her main gallery spaces and her exhibitions of late, with the former now presenting two individual gallery spaces above her main store, which she is using to host a total of four new collections of her work, three of which see Melusina dip her fingers into the world of AI art.

Both of the gallery spaces can be reached via Melu’s landing point, which also provides access to her art deco store and annex, or can be reached via the individual SLurls provided below, with galleries and store locations also being linked via teleport disks as well.

As an entirely arbitrary decision on my part, I’m starting with the Black Gallery. This is in fact split into two independent levels, also linked by the teleport disks, allowing it  to host two separate exhibitions. The first is Horizons, located in the Black Gallery 2. Taken from within Second Life, it presents a collection of 20 images captured in Melu’s familiar minimalist style.

As the title of the collection suggests, each of these 20 images offers a unique view out towards a horizon. From deserts to views out over open waters, from fields of ripening crops stretching out into the far distance to looking across coastal sands to where the water takes over (or conversely from the shallows of the water back across the costal sands, these are all expressive pieces suggestive of a vast openness – even the one showing the sand/grass dappled flatness of a region awaiting the touch of terraforming tools.

True, some include evidence of life – a fence separating land from sea; a bench awaiting tired legs to lighten their load for a while; a train line cutting a horizontal divide beteen observer and distant horizon. But these only serve to heighten the sense of vastness inherent within these images. But “vastness” does not necessarily equate to “emptiness” – and to think otherwise would be a mistake.

With her photography, Melu is a storyteller. Or perhaps a better term might be story prompter; within all of her photography it is what isn’t seen that captivates; the suggestions of stories hovering just at the edge of the frame as each picture prods us to see beyond the literal. For example:  what might come thundering down that train track, shattering the peace, and who or what might it be carrying a to where? What is the promise of the far side of the sea, or what new adventure await beyond the broken horizon presented by the approaching foreshore? What might yet be raised from the flat evenness of an untouched region, and who might one day explore its wonders? The opportunities to create stories and tales is as vast as the spaces Melu presents within these 20 pieces.

On the level below, is the first of the three AI related collections Melusina is currently presenting. Entitled 100 Retro Ladies, it comprises four sets of 25 images apiece. Each set is framed by a colour, and all are built around a theme of fashion at the height of the Art Deco era in Europe (early 1920s through early 1930s) – a time when women started to embody a new boldness and drive towards self-recognition, greater expression and more social freedom.

Each set of images – each named for the tint which largely defines them: Red, Teal, Black and Ivory – presents itself five pictures as a time around the gallery walls (so a total of only 20 images is displayed at any given time. To see the remaining images within each colour set, click on the white panels on which each group of pictures is mounted.

Sitting between the Black Gallery and Melu’s shop is the Minimum Gallery, home to two further exhibitions of AI-based art: Broken Mirrors and Kisses. both again present women who, in terms of look and style, might be seen as being draw from the 1920s.

As noted above, and thanks to movements such as the drive for emancipation in the early 20th century, coupled with (in Europe at least) the need for women to take up functions and work normally the preserve of men as a result of the Great War, the 1920s was a period where women in the western world were starting to spread their wings and seek greater and more open freedoms from the strictures imposed by society. Kisses is a direct reflection of this, depicting and reflecting a period when a part of that greater expressiveness took the former of more open displays of affection / love / sexuality, be it in the form of a simple chaste kiss on the lips through to something deeper and indicative of desires beyond friendship / affection.

On the upper level of the gallery, Melu presents the most  – for me – compelling of the three AI-related collections, Broken Mirrors. I say this not to diminish Kisses or 100 Retro Ladies is any way, but because within this collect is a rich narrative depth which naturally attracts  whilst also giving out something of a challenge. Within them, we are encouraged not not to just see images of women before broken mirrors, but to contemplate how we might better understand the myriad facets of personality and self, and how we might find a more integrated life by doing so, as Melu notes in the introduction to this collection:

Mirrors are fragile and it’s very easy that they get broken. Nonetheless, even a broken mirror can be helpful. Try to look at your image on a broken mirror. You could be frightened or intrigued:  you can think that the fragmented image you see says that you are overwhelmed, destroyed, cut in pieces by your problems, trauma issues. Or you can see those fragments as different parts of yourself, and seeing them can be helpful in knowing each of them better, and trying to make them live and interact together successfully.

– Melusina Parkin, Broken Mirrors

All individually engaging, the AI collections presented within Broken Mirrors, Kisses  and 100 Retro Ladies are a new an interesting extension to Melusina’s art, one which offers something of a unique approach in using AI toolsets compared to some other artists experimenting with the medium. Meanwhile, and for those who prefer, Horizons demonstrates Melu is not abandoning her flair for presenting equally engaging Second Life focused photographic art.

 SLurl Details

• Melu’s Pace Main Landing Point (Lunula, rated Moderate)