Category: Art in Second Life

I first wrote about the art of Kirjat Umarov back in April 2024, when he was exhibiting at the Annex of Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (see: Abstract Event Horizons at Nitroglobus in Second Life). At the time I was struck by the symbology and depth of themes and ideas within Kirjat’s abstract art presented within that exhibition.

A new exhibition of Kirjat’s work opened at the start of June 2025 and Carelyna’s ArtCare Gallery.  Entitled Metaphysical Landscapes, it focuses leans more towards abstract surrealism, while again mixing themes and ideas.

Ever since I first saw a painting by Giorgio de Chirico in an art school textbook, I’ve been fascinated by surrealism in the visual arts. I had come to feel and understand this form of expression more and more through the “metaphysical landscapes” of [Yves] Tanguy, [Salvador] Dali, [Rene] Magritte, and of course Max Ernst & Joan Miró as well as Russian and German protagonists of this genre.

– Kirjat Umarov

In contemplating and studying the works of these artists,  Kirjat found them both a form of escape from the everyday and also a means of understanding them as  expressing a form of truth about life: all that we experience in daily life – all that we see, the worries, the emotional ups and downs, our fears, our concerns – is merely a superficial illusion of what life is about. Underlying it, just waiting for us to open our eyes and see it, is a form of the world and existence in which everything flows together, and everything makes sense.

As a result of this realisation, and as Kirjat goes on to note:

Last year I noticed that for some time I’ve been painting non-representational, abstract pictures while also repeatedly devoting myself to classical landscape depictions … which is why I began trying to combine the two, sometimes adding geometric elements and composing everything in such a way that metaphysical landscapes and forms can be discovered in them.

– Kirjat Umarov

So it is, across four rooms, we’re presented with a rich mix of imagery encompassing the idea of what we see before us is more illusory than we might think, that there is a more substantial truth waiting for us to find. The Landing Point places you at the intersection of these four rooms, alongside a post offering an introduction to the exhibition, and a catalogue providing information on the six images presented within each room –  and I highly recommend you read both.

All of the pieces carry a richness of idea – hinted at through their names – and I found myself particularly drawn to Cloudy Mountain View, Black Hole Sun, Lover’s Pier and There’s Always a New Day Behind the Corner. All of these pieces have a beautiful sense of minimalism about them, together with an abstracted use of geometry which makes them instantly attractive and brings there messages to the fore in the most gentle of manners. Whish is not to diminish the others in the collection: all have something to say to the open eye and mind.

A fascinating and engaging exhibition.

SLurl Details

• Metaphysical Landscapes, ArtCare Gallery (Emotion, rated: Moderate)

I’ll be honest, I’d been totally unaware of the photographic art of Ciambi Bluebird, so I was highly appreciative of Mareea Farrasco’s invitation to view his exhibition at her IMAGOLand galleries, which opened at the end of May 2025.

Bluebird Blues is an engaging collection of 24 large-format pieces displayed within a gallery space utilising PBR (the art can still be appreciated if you are not running a PBR viewer), which are totally captivating in in their depth and realism. The majority are landscape pieces taken from around Second Life, with four more avatar-centric pieces, and one abstract geometry.

The latter are all contemplative pieces: the lone figure standing or seated, not looking at the camera, but staring into the distance or with their back to the lens. They are presented with names designed to provoke, in the most natural and subtle ways, an emotional reaction in the part of the observer. All four engage, but I did find myself drawn to You Are What You Is for its sheer brilliance of setting, framing, and pose. It is stunningly beautiful and richly emotive.

The artistry evidence in the landscape pieces is equally as striking. Ciambi’s use of focus, depth of field, angle, EEP selection and post-processing is all simply attention-grabbing, resulting on pictures of incredible beauty and sense of vitality. Each has its own story to tell, given in part by its title, but far more by the manner in which its composition draws the eye in to it, again sometimes in quite a subtle manner – as with Fly, where the subject of the piece might be so easily missed on a first glance but once seen, causes the pictures beauty to literally explode.

Offered for sale and with Modify permissions for resizing, these are pieces capable of gracing anyone’s SL home. An exhibition not to be missed.

SLurl Details

• Bluebird Blues – IMAGOLand Galleries (Androviel, rated Moderate)

I live in the countryside and I love nature and I think I could not live without the thousand shades of green that pass through the seasons, the sound of birds, the buzzing of bees, the bleating of sheep, the neighing of horses … and I see how the world is changing.

Nature will find a way to survive, it’s resilient, and like a thousand other species have, I’m convinced that we’re doomed to extinction, at least as structured as we are now.

So I wonder if there will be and what will be our future as human beings?

With these words, artist Manoji Yachvili (Onceagain) introduces us to a provocative essay-in-art exploring our relationship with our home world; questions of life within the broader solar system (and by extension, our galaxy as a whole); on the genuine threat of climate change, and questions of our survival as a race, and how we might recall Earth, should we survive the ecological destruction we are actively encouraging each and every day.

Entitled Lost the Last, the installation is particularly provocative for me, as it focuses in part on the questions of life on Mars and the potential for humanity to settle thereon. Or perhaps “dangerous” might be a better term; I’ve been both directly and indirectly involved in the questions related to the human exploration of Mars (up to and including working with Mars analogue environments and looking at questions of human factors), all of which could so easily cause me to superimpose my own commentary on certain things rather than focusing on the installation itself (such as dwelling on the bunkum idiocy of a certain CEO of a commercial space venture and his “plan” for “colonising” Mars).

It is possibly this wider focus on Mars, coupled with our on-going efforts to explore it and seek answers to basic questions as to what happened there to both turn it from a warm, wet planet, possibly harbouring basic life, and what happened to that life;, which caused Manoji to focus on it within this installation. As such, there is perhaps a temptation to critique it in light of the references to climate change on the basis that the latter is unlikely to cause Earth to drift into a Mars-like state of potential frozen stasis, but rather push us  increasingly towards the broiling hell we know as Venus.

However, I would venture to suggest such critiques are put aside, as the focus should be on the broader questions asked by the installation, and what any potential colonisation of Mars, coupled with the global failure on the parts of governments and corporations to really work to reverse – or at least slow – the critical overload with are placing on this planet in terms of climate impact and pollution, might mean for this planet.

The installation itself forms two halves. The first – which housed the installation’s Landing Point – presents a barren landscape, seemingly rusted with iron oxides. It carries a very Mars-like feel to it, but it is not Mars. It is a dead (or near-dead) Earth. This is shown by the remnants of a high-rise building to one side of the setting, an old highway information sign and evidence of even old ruins from humanity’s past. The Landing Point sits within a small structure – and I would suggest spending a minute or two examining the contents of this room prior to moving on; they have a lot to say for themselves.

A gallery lies a short walk from the Landing Point, the hazmat figure standing in front of it again suggesting this is in fact Earth, albeit Earth with a clearly noxious atmosphere. Within this gallery lies an exhibition of art carefully crafted to aid in illustrating the idea that we are the architects of Earth’s – and our own – doom. Mixed with the images are 3D pieces by various artists, selected by Manoji, they further underscore the themes of loss and memory.

There are some apparent anachronisms here: The space suited figure apparently cannot survive without their suit and helmet as they explore what is left of Earth, but horses and trees can. However, as we know from Mars, life – admittedly in its more basic forms – is remarkably hardy and able to survive in environments utterly hostile to us. As such, I would suggest the inclusion of horses and trees within some of the images is intended to be a metaphor for this fact: we can more easily relate to life persevering when Nature has turned Her back on us, rather than depictions of more basic life we might not recognise.

On encountering the far wall of this space (walk into it), visitors will be asked to accept a local Experience (if they haven’t in a previous visit). This will teleport them to the second part of the installation: a base on Mars.

Surrounded by a backdrop which put me in mind of the Columbia Hills (not that this is remotely relevant), the base serves as a place where memories of all we have lost are kept alive – at least in miniature: ideas of open homes where we were once free to breathe the air outdoors; places rich in grass where the creatures with which we once shared our home world could wander; a place where water flowed freely, without having to be canned and rationed. It serves as an illustration of what we stand to lose if we persist in making Earth hostile towards us, and all we stand to lose.

Evocative and with much to say, Lost the Last should be seen, explored and considered.

SLurl Details

• Lost the Last (SLEA3, rated Moderate)

Raglan Shire, Second Life’s Tiny community, is once again opening its doors to people from across the grid, as participating artists and visitors are invited to the Raglan Shire Artwalk 2025.

This year, the the event runs from Sunday, May 18th, through until Sunday, June 15th, 2025, inclusive. It  offers an opportunity not just to appreciate a huge range of2D art together with a selection of 3D pieces, but to also tour the Shire regions and enjoy the hospitality of the Raglan Shire community – one of the friendliest and fun-seeking groups in Second Life.

A non-juried exhibition, the Artwalk is open to any artist wishing to enter, and has minimal restrictions on the type of art displayed (one of the most important being all art is in keeping with the Shire’s maturity rating). All of this means that it offers one of the richest mixes of art displayed within a single location in Second Life, with 2D art is displayed along the hedgerows of the Shire’s pathways and tree platforms overhead and 3D art among the community’s parks.

Over 100 artists are participating in 2025, many for the first time. As such, the depth and range of art on display is guaranteed to keep visitors exploring the paths and walks around and through the hedgerows – and if walking proves a little much, there are always the Shire’s tours to ease the load on the feet, together with the teleport boards to help move visitors swiftly around and through the different display areas. But that said, I do recommend exercising your pedal extremities and doing at least some of your exploration on foot – just keep in mind people do have their homes in the regions as well.

Given the number of artists involved, there isn’t a published list of participants, but anyone interested in the world of SL art is bound to recognise many of the names of the artists here. The Artwalk is also a marvellous way to see art from both our physical and digital worlds and for catching artists both familiar and new to your eye. Just don’t try to see it all at once; the Artwalk is open for a month, which gives plenty of time for browsing and appreciating the art without feeling overloaded.

SLurl Details

All of the Raglan Shire Artwalk regions are rated General)

• 2D Art Landing Points
  • Raglan Shire Artwalk Area 1
  • Raglan Shire Artwalk Area 2
  • Raglan Shire Artwalk Area 3
  • Raglan Shire Artwalk Area 4
• 3D Art:
  • Morning Shire Shire 3D Area 1
  • Heron Shire 3D Area 2
  • Athen Shire 3D Area 3
  • Raglan Tree Gallery
• My little corner