Category: Art in Second Life

I first became familiar with the work of FionaFei in 2019, and instantly fell in love with her unique and immersive art within Second Life, and have covered her in-world exhibitions on numerous occasions in these pages.

A Chinese-American who immigrated to the United States with her family at a young age, Fiona gained traditional training in fine art, gaining a BFA from Cornell University and a MS in visualisation from Texas A&M University. All of this has combined with her involvement in Second Life to celebrate artistic expression – particularly that of shuǐmò, which has been at the heart of a number of her exhibitions and installations in SL over the years.

For those unfamiliar with the term, shuǐmò (also called shuǐmòhuà or suiboku-ga in Japanese), is a technique of ink brush painting generally using different dilutions and thicknesses of black ink to produce monochrome pieces (although very subtle colour washes might be used as well). It first emerged in Tang dynasty China (618–907), spreading to Japan (14th century) and also reaching Korea and India. Beside the use of black ink dilutions (ranging from deep black to light gray, shuǐmò is also marked by the emphasis of the brushwork being on the perceived spirit or essence of the subject rather than directly imitating its appearance.  

Within Second Life, Fiona has offered a new perspective on this traditional art by producing exhibitions offering art in the style and tradition of shuǐmò, but which have the added dimension of physical depth through the use of 3D modelling. This has resulted in finished pieces which can gently shift as our viewpoint changes, and allows the art to become an immersive 3D space we can not only view, but experience by passing through it – including witnessing Fiona’s 2D artwork.

In her latest exhibition, ShuiMo Ink Brush Installation, Fiona again offers a 3D environment presented in the traditional shuǐmò style within which can be found further 3D shuǐmò paintings framed as scrolls, together with two gallery spaces devoted to 2D art neatly contained within it.

The first – and larger – of these gallery spaces offers a portfolio of Fiona’s photography from the physical world entitled Fiona’s China Adventures. This is a visually engaging collection of 11 images capturing aspects of China which are quite possibly far removed from the common perceptions of that country, helping to further bring it to life. The second presents eight ink paintings again produced as traditional Chinese landscape scroll art. I’ll leave you to discover these gallery spaces – but that shouldn’t be too hard 🙂 .

As always from Fiona, and expressive and engaging art space.

SLurl Details

• ShuiMo Ink Brush Installation (Scientia, rated Moderate)
• Shuǐmò (Dreams, rated: General)

Mareea Farrasco is a multi-talents individual: artist, photographer, gallery owner and curator, and creator of her own public spaces at IMAGOLand, which is also home to her gallery spaces.

In all of these capacities, I’ve featured Mareea and her work in these pages on numerous occasions; but this one is special, featuring as it does a celebration of Mareea’s IMAGOLandas seen through the eyes of artist Julana Allen (Julana Teichmann).

I was only recently introduced to Julana’s work thanks to her collaboration with Eta (etamae), Where the Flowers Are, which opened at he Elven Falls Art Collective at the start of August 2025 (see: Where the flowers are in Second Life), and it was a pleasure to see her celebration Mareea and IMAGOLand within Minimalista – The Spirit of Imago.

For those unfamiliar with IMAGOLand, the ground level of the region is maintained by Mareea as a public space , the face of which can change from time-to-time, but which always presents a sense of peace and serenity. Within her exhibition, Julana offers a personal and captivating look at IMAGOLand’s beauty as currently presented within the region. From trees turning to gold as the year turns to autumn; from horses grazing to art both free-standing and painted on walls, Julana uniquely captures the look and feel of the region.

As I noted when writing about Where the Flowers Are, Julana has a gift for art and photography, and a talent for post-processing, something which can give her pieces a tactile sense. Here, this combination of vision, framing and post processing which brings a depth of life to each piece, making it not so much an image to be viewed, so much as experienced. This is further enhanced by the space in which the exhibition is mounted, which has been decorated by Julana in reflection of Mareea’s creativity.

A thoroughly magical celebration in art; and if you’ve not visited IMAGOLand of late, I recommend viewing Minimalista – The Spirit of Imago, and then dropping down to ground level and touring the region to experience it for yourself and appreciate the context of Julana’s work.

SLurl Details

• Minimalista – The Spirit of Imago (Androviel, rated Moderate)

Currently open within one of the exhibition spaces at Michiel Bechir Gallery, operated and curated by Michiel Bechir, is Marked by Shadow, Moved by Light, an intriguing exhibition by photographer artist, gallery curator, music afficionado and blogger, Owl Dragonash.

Owl is a veritable tour de force within Second Life. As a founder of galleries – notably Cloud Galleries and Maison de la Chouette – and host and promoter of live music events across the grid, Owl works tirelessly to bring people and communities together and bring artists and musicians to the attention of a wider audience. As an artist-photographer in her own right, Owl is often featured in exhibitions and art events, as well as having her own Flickr stream.  However, Marked by Shadow, Moved by Light is something special; perhaps an experiment in approach and technique and the use of shadow and light, but one rich in content and enigmatic in presentation and meaning.

In Marked by Shadow, Moved by Light, I explore embodiment in flux – how light carries form, how shadow reveal emotion; how we carry markings both chosen and inherited. Each piece captures a moment of stillness within transformation.

– Owl Dragonash

Comprising 10 pieces, this is an collection of what might best be called primal images. From black-and-white through pieces predominantly using primary colours to the use of more natural tones, all ten are richly expressive and also highly tactile in their finish. Each is evocatively titled, helping to nudge our thinking in a certain direction, but it is in that use of colour, light, shadow and finish that captivates and engages. As Owl goes on to note in her artist’s statement:

The stripped illumination suggests something primal and performative – like camouflage, ritual paint, or the imprint of memory. Wings, horns and hooves hint at hybrid identities –  creatures caught between wildness and wonder. 

– Owl Dragonash

This within this collection we have a dual thrust: on the one hand, we have images that evoke a vein of fantasy and imagination all too common to the entire human existence, touching on themes of paganism, mysticism, mythology, mixing into some pieces more “modern” adult themes. The latter is particularly expressed within Suspension of Will, Bloodlight Offering and Feathered Restraint; all three of which are additionally nuanced in their mixing of adult themes and ideas of transformation and sacrifice.

On the other hand, these images offer a subtle and unique mirror on the ability for Second Life to become the vessel of transformation for each and everyone of us; allowing us to become whatever we like and experience whatever might draw us to itself. The use of colour, light and shadow further invoke and enhance on two levels as well. Firstly, it does indeed evoke the ideas of body painting and through it the creation of hybrid identities for the purposes of ritual, etc. Secondly, the combination of the three – light, shadow and colour – reflects how our wants and desires and hopes for engagement and / or transformative are given form within the digital realm.

In all, and as stated, an intriguing and highly engaging exhibition, well worth visiting and exploring. Should you do so, note that Owl suggests Marked by Shadow, Moved by Light should be seen with the viewer’s environment is set to Midnight.

SLurl Details

• Marked by Shadow, Moved by Light, Michiel Bechir Gallery (Embrace, rated Adult)

Two art exhibitions opened earlier in August, at ArtCare Gallery curated and operated by Carelyna. The first, and longer running of the two, is a series of photo-paintings by Solen (Solen Karu). It opened on August 1st, 2025 so in truth may not have too much longer to run – my apologies to Solen and Carelyna for taking so long to get to it.

The second opened on August 18th, 2025, and features the Second Life photography of Anja (Neobookie). Both are very different one to the other, but both share a common aspect of representing their artists’ unique outlook on life and Second Life.

Solen’s road to art has been an interesting one; from a career in information technology to that of land ownership, cultivating nut and fruit trees to form a small woodland. Whilst doing the latter over a period of some three decades, he also spent / spends time walking a local country trail and taking photographs of the trees and wildlife together with the local river.

He called these photographs “mediocre”; whether the originals were / are or not is an entirely subjective matter. What is clear is the manner in which Solen has used computer software tools and a range of processing techniques to turn them into photo-paintings which are anything but mediocre – rather the reverse, in fact: they are, completely captivating, as can be seen within Walking the Land.

Incorporating multiple aspects of art from abstract to impressionism / abstract impressionism to expressionism, and spread across the two levels of its gallery space, Solen’s work conveys so much within each picture, making this a simply superb exhibition.

Hailing from the Netherlands, Anja has been involved in Second Life for some 12 years and who remains fascinated with the multiple ways in which creativity can be expressed through the platform.

It’s a fascination which led Anja to start taking photographs of the places she visited in-world, and this exhibition allows visitors to explore both her photography and her travels through Second Life.

Entitled Distraction Visions, this is no ordinary pictorial tour of Second Life; the images chosen illustrate the more surreal beauty to be found within our digital world: an island floating in the sky, complete with buildings attached to it almost like barnacles while a whale swims in an embedded aquarium; guitars rising from the ground sprouting branches and leaves; a lunar lander sitting within a multi-level chess board; a racing car formed from a wine bottle; a jet propelled industrial building, and so on.

Each piece is a story in its own right, simply awaiting our imaginations to offer up a narrative (or perhaps narratives, such is the potential of each piece). Whilst they are not necessarily required, the gallery space also offers a series of props reflective of some of the images, given Distracted Vision further depth.

Expressive and engaging, there are very much two exhibitions deserving to be seen and enjoyed.

SLurl Details

Emotion is rated Moderate

• Solen: Walking the Land
• Anja: Distraction Visions