Category: Art in Second Life

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)

Since it opened in June (see: Linden Lab and Motown: a new approach to user on-boarding in Second Life), the Motown Welcome Hub has hosted a number of events, with the most recent being a Scavenger Hunt and, for the weekend of the 2nd September, 2023, a Trivia event with music (from noon through until 14:00 SLT).

However, on new venue which may have been overlooked in the hubbub surrounding the recent Scavenger Hunt is the opening of the Motown Art Gallery, feature for it’s first (?) exhibition, the work of one of SL’s most well-known – and rightly celebrated – physical world artists, JudiLynn India, who uses the platform as a means to bring her art to a global audience, thus demonstrating one of Second Life’s great strengths in providing a reach which can at times exceed that available to us in the physical world.

The gallery is housed in a warehouse-like building on the north side of the open-air music events area within the main Motown region, and offers both an indoor display space across a main an mezzanine floor, and additional space within its back lot (which can be either reached most readily via the alleyway running between the gallery’s neighbouring beauty salon and pizza house, or in the case of JudiLynn’s exhibition, the thoughtfully-provided teleport disc on the gallery’s main floor.

I’ve been drawing since I could hold a crayon. I studied art throughout school, Commercial Art in high school and Graphic Design at Tyler School of Art/Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. I’ve always been interested in various crafts such as sewing and ceramics. I’ve also been active in music, playing piano, guitar and violin. After the turn of the century, I decided to focus my creativity on acrylic and digital painting and have totally enjoyed the ongoing journey.

– JudiLynn India

JudiLynn is perhaps best known is Second Life for her vibrant and richly layered abstract art, produced both through “wet” painting and digital means, and which might be most accurately described as intuitive art. By this I mean that rather than being based on an specific premeditated design or idea, these are pieces that are defined through the artistic process itself; the loop between mood, colour, texture and imagination all combining with what is already on the canvas or screen to inform what should come next. allow each piece to grow entirely organically to a finished state.

The result of this are pieces rich in colour and contrast and also highly fluid in their nature. They attract the eye and offer patterns and interactions which seem to ebb and flow as the eye passes over them, provoking the imagination. Sometimes motifs or patterns will become apparent which will lead JudiLynn to experiment with them across two or more pieces, resulting in small collections such as the likes of  Spiralling, Land of Fantasy, Jazzy and Fences, all of which can be found within the “backyard” section of this exhibition.

However, JudiLynn’s work covers a much broader canvas – so to speak – which encompasses portraiture, pieces exuding an impressionist sensibility and landscapes. Some of this work is again demonstrated within this exhibition through the likes of the utterly captivating Royal Elegance, Grace and Majestic pieces.

None of the pieces presented is available for sale; for those looking to make some purchases for their SL homes / appreciation, please refer to the list of galleries included in JudiLynn’s biography available through the wall panel under the stairs leading up to the mezzanine area. For those who would like to have JudiLynn’s work as part of their physical lives, do be sure to visit her website.

As noted through the use of the bracketed question mark towards the top of this article, I’ve no idea whether exhibitions at the gallery will be rotated or on what basis; frankly, I’d be very disappointed if this were not the case; the inclusion of the gallery within the Welcome Hub is an excellent means of demonstrating SL’s ability to stand as a platform for artistic expressionism in its visual forms as much as the music venue outside the gallery demonstrates its ability to be a venue for social events and entertainment (and in regard to  visual art, I would also note JudiLynn has taken care to give a subtle underlining of SL’s scope for 3D artistic expression as well). As such, and whilst recommending JudiLynn’s exhibition, I certainly hope we’ll get to see the gallery reflect all genres of 2D and 3D art popular within SL.

SLurl Details

• Motown Art Gallery (Motown, rated Moderate)

It’s been a fair while since I last visited Sinful Retreat – nigh-on two years, in fact; and a lot has changed in that time. As such, a re-visit was well and truly overdue, as a flick through the Destination Guide reminded me.

For the longest time, Sinful Retreat was the home of the Janus galleries, a place defined by art both indoors and out, set within a landscape intended to both support and emphasise the art on display, and to present a unique environment that encouraged exploration and discovery. This latter point remains true with the current iteration of the region, as does the unique landscaping, with half of the region raised as a man-made plateau sitting atop and extending outwards from a huge mesa.

However, where the former plateau sat as home to the main Janus galleries and an art street, this one is home to the Janus Manor, and expansive 3-storey building utilising DRD’s Scarlett Hotel. Whilst suggestive of a private home, the Manor is in fact a gallery, and home to an exhibition of art collected over the years by region holders Chuck Clip and his SL partner (and physical world wife) Jewell (FallenAurora Jewell), a collection covering both 2D and 3D pieces.

The collection is richly diverse, demonstrating but Chuck and Jewell’s support of artistic expression in Second Life and the richness and diversity of said art. Within the building, pieces can be found along the hallways, within the alcoves and individual rooms, with each area or room representing a particular artist. Thus, in exploring the Manor one will find art by Layachi Ihnen, JudiLynn India, Xia Chieng, Kayly Iali, Asperix Asp, LashVV, Perpetua1010, paula31atnight, Traci Ultsch, Sheba Blitz, Milly Sharple, and many more. They cover both original paintings and digital pieces produced in the physical world and imported into SL, and pieces produced directly within the platform.

Also to be found within the Manor house are 3D pieces which combine with those outside to celebrate artists such as Bryn Oh, London Junkers, CioTToLiNa Xue, nessuno Myoo, Meilo Minotaur and Livio Korobase, with some of the pieces offering a natural flow between the main house and the neighbouring ballroom, where further 2D and 3D art is to be found. In all, I understand around some 70 artists from across SL are represented, making this one of the most diverse and engaging public collections on display in-world, which it turn makes Janus Manor well worth a visit by anyone with any degree of interest in art in Second Life.

Nor does it end there, as the region comprises multiple locations offer to visitors to explore. The first, and perhaps most obvious in terms of the setting’s main landing point, of these is likely to be the Memorial Garden. Sitting at the top of another rocky plateau – this one rising out of waters in the north-east of the region, the Gardens present a place where those who have lost someone known to them either in-world or in the physical world can have a candle lit in remembrance, and perhaps even a memorial raised to them. Beautifully landscaped, the gardens also offer abroad stairway down to a broad, deep ledge under them – a pace for meditation, tai chi or even gentle conversation among friends.

Sitting at the western end of the platform on which Janus Manor is located is an open-air elevator. It offers the way down to where both the Secret Garden and Studio Chuck can be found. The former is a formal garden sitting behind railing-topped walls, and through which a footpath winds its way, leading visitor past flowers and over water.

In addition, the garden is home to a further collection of 3D art featuring pieces by ArtemisGreece (another of my favourite artists in SL) and Phenix Rexen. Studio Chuck, meanwhile, sits as a home to Chuck Clip’s own art, both 2D and 3D. Beautifully expressive, often wrapped in meaning and metaphor, Chuck’s work is always a pleasure to view, and the Studio is a perfect / minimalist environment in which to appreciate it.

A raised walkway passes over the water at base of the Manor’s plateau from the gardens to reach the land under the platform. Sitting within the shadows here is another little retreat, set within the shadows of the platform overhead and home to a little secret (albeit pointed to by a little gathering of signs), and which may be worth a little exploration – although some additional lighting might be required. For those who prefer, the Secret Garden also connects to a woodland area, beyond which a little horse riding can be found, as can a number of private rental units looking out of the sea – so do be careful and avoid trespass beyond the hedgerows marking them.

For those who prefer an easier means of exploration, the setting does include a teleport system in the form of a directory of destinations. This provides direct access not only to the major locations around the setting, but also those within Janus Manor itself.

A genuinely engaging visit for art lovers and explorers alike.

SLurl Details

• Sinful Retreat (rated: Adult)