Category: Art in Second Life

In October 2023, I visited and wrote about Phantasmagoria, an exhibition of art by Carelyna hosted at Mareea Farraco’s IMAGOLand gallery. For July 2026, Carelyna has returned to IMAGOLand with an continuation / extension to that exhibition entitled, appropriately enough, Phantasmagoria II.

As I noted with the original exhibition, while the title might well evoke thoughts of ghosts and spectres, it can also reference the idea of a sequences of haphazardly associative imagery as seen in dreams. This latter interpretation is close to what we see here (and as was the case with the original Phantasmagoria – from which several of the pieces in this exhibition have been drawn), a juxtapositioning of images that speak to ideas of memory, emotions, absence – perhaps even loss – and the inner workings of the mind.

The 16 images on display are offered within a darker surround that the original exhibition, one that presents a more immersive sense of night and dreams to those inner thoughts of the mind as we become lost in subconscious, rather than conscious, thought. Candelabras which further imprint the idea of being within a hallowed place of memory and remembrance.

All of the 16 is a sepia-rich pieces, with their washed tone and faded or ghost-like images designed to represent both fragments of memory –  events recalled through the mists of time in which ghost-like individuals appear sometimes almost clearly, others almost completely washed out – and of emotions and feelings.

Some of this might be gained by peeking at the individual names of the pieces via a right-click & edit; but it is far better to spend time contemplating what each means to you, and how they speak to how memories important to us, together with their associated emotions and feelings, never truly vanish – although they might over time become transformed by the passage of time and by our own growth and change. They can come unbidden and jumbled, but they can also be a journey through times past, reframing them and comforting or even healing us as they give us a second chance to recall those times.

An evocative, poignant and enchanting exhibition.

SLurl Details

• IMAGOLand Art Galleries (Fantasy Shores, rated Moderate)

I recently received a series of invites to visit the Michiel Bechir Gallery in Second Life and witness the July 2026 / summer exhibition there, which features four artist-photographers, three of whom present images from Second life, and the fourth photographs taken in the physical worlds and scaled for presentation in-world. Of the four, two follow clearly-stated themes, whilst the remaining two appear more free-form, albeit with undertows of emotions themes.

Through My Eyes by Lo Coeur, is a personal catalogue of her journeys through Second Life – journeys she undertakes with a positive outlook which is reflected in the bright, and in some cases suitably saturated, colours found within many of the pieces presented. Lo additionally uses a mix of styles and tone with which to present moods within several of the pieces (take, Light, Lonely, and Sky on the Water for example), whilst the use of saturation can both enhance the mood of a piece (Misty Mountain)  and encourage focus (Passion, for example).

Rich and inviting, these are pieces that help reveal the magic of exploring SL.

Each photograph in this gallery tells a story. Not just of places and things, but of feelings, of life. Of the quiet beauty that surrounds us every day, if we stop to look. … We chose these photos not because they are perfect, but because they are honest. They capture the world as it is: messy, beautiful, fragile, and resilient. They invite you to pause. To reflect. To feel.

Rebeka Demjórus Tƶimişce (RebekaNLady) introducing her exhibition

Thus Rebeka introduces a collection of 17 photographs captured in the real world which are as rich in colour as they are in subject matter. Their sweeping range encompasses riverside views, woodlands and parks, macro studies of flowering plants, reflections on water rich in reeds or the natural detritus of nature accumulating in shallows – and more. How we respond to them – the feelings or emotions they might cause is, obviously, entirely personal and not something to be ascribed here. All I will say is that all of them do hold the eye and present outlooks on life that might easily be missed if they are looked at too quickly, with the two offered purely in monochrome perhaps conveying a deeper sense of personal message than the others.

There is no introduction for the collection of 14 pieces presented by Karma Nirvana – and one simply is not required. These are pieces which speak quietly but firmly, each with a distinctive voice, of the beauty and wonder of Second Life.

I confess that I’m not sure if I’ve witnessed Karma’s work in the past, but if that is the case then it is to my loss. These are pieces captured in some of Second Life’s most familiar public regions – Loch Tredach, The Far Away, Grand Harbor Isle and so on – which may to some be instantly recognisable, but here are given new depth and meaning thanks to Karma’s use of subject, focus, angle, cropping and post-processing. Whilst no over-arching theme may have been intended here, each piece is in and of itself deeply emotive.

In Reflections, photographer Michiel Bechir invites visitors into a world where surfaces, shadows and mirrored light reveal more than they conceal. Each image captures a moment in which reality folds back onto itself – water becomes memory, glass becomes emotion and architecture becomes a quiet echo of the avatar observing it.

– The introduction to Michiel Bechir’s collection Reflections

And so through a series of 12 images, Michiel takes us on a journey across Second Life, each piece offering a singular view that is subtly split through the use (most often) by reflection, encouraging us to look as much below – so to speak (or in the foreground in most cases)  as what might be taken as the primary subject within it. These are pieces where the play of light on water, of the rippling reflections and refractions of the world above are, together with lighting and tone, the drivers of our emotional responses to each image. Relying most particularly on the use of EEP settings more than post-processing, these are works all waiting to tell a story to the ears that are ready to hear.

Four excellent and engaging exhibitions sitting under a single roof.

SLurl Details

• Michiel Bechir Gallery (Embrace, rated Adult)

Concrete Shadows is an exploration of urban life captured through the interplay of light and shadow in contemporary artwork. This city life exhibition illustrates how the silhouettes of people merge with their surroundings, creating a dialogue between the individual and the urban landscape. 

– Miles Cantelou

Thus reads the artist’s introduction of a series of acrylic canvases adapted for upload to Second Life for the exhibition Concrete Shadows, which opened in mid-June at ArtCare Gallery, curated by Carelyna.

Those familiar with Miles’ work will know that his range encompasses street and studio photography, painting in acrylics and oils, working within 3D environments and more. Utilising genres from abstract through surrealism to abstracted expressionism, his art is a constant study of light and light forms often with a strong lean into using light and light forms. Much of his work is colour-rich and boldly stated. Here, however, and as his introduction notes, he large eschews colour (although some is present in places to give an added subtle context to the urban environments featured) in favour of a more monochromatic look.

Comprising 20 individual pieces, Concrete Shadows could be a record captured from within a city anywhere in the world. But precisely where their inspiration comes from doesn’t actually matter;  what does is the manner in which they resonate with us as we view them and their the subtext of line, shape, shadow and block serve to suggest; so that in some it is possible to perceive the bustling and disorderly order of somewhere like Tokyo or Shanghai whilst others might suggest a kinship with London, Paris or New York – or wherever your imagination takes you.

All of them offer narratives of life, be this used as a collective nouns for the bustle of people passing along busy streets, cojoined by matters of business, tourism, need – whatever; or be it a reflection of the individual caught in a moment of introspection, transition or perhaps loneliness within the midst of that bustle. More broadly, they tell a story about the places we have created in which we go about our business and lives; the ebb and flow of the relationship between conurbation and self. Cities are places we have built out of our own necessity; yet at the same time we are mere elements of their necessity, serving their growth, their wealth, their power. They cannot exists without us and nor can we, as a society, function without them; the one gives purpose to the other.

Is there balance in this? Perhaps; perhaps not – but there is a blurring. Our relationships with the cities in which we live is one of adversarial symbiosis; it constantly shifts and changes as we move through the concrete and steel canyons or pause for breath in the small haven of green park spaces. We move as one, currents and eddies of humanity coursing through streets and avenues, flowing into and from buildings, an underscoring of our need for them – and their reliance upon us. At the same time we seek to remain individuals, operating within and yet apart from the rush of City Life and all it brings.

An intriguing and engaging exhibition.

SLurl Details

• ArtCare Gallery (Emotion, rated Moderate)

Two years ago, in July 2024, Dido Haas hosted the first public exhibition of Second Life photography by Miu (MiuMira) within The Annex of her Nitroglobus Roof Gallery. Called Connections, that exhibition garnered over 350 unique visits, people drawn to its wealth of expression and focus – and I was one of those 350 to be some engaged, as I noted in Miu’s Connections at Nitroglobus in Second Life.

It is therefore fitting that Mui is back at The Annex for the months of July and August 2026, in what might be considered an informal second anniversary celebration of her first ever public exhibition of art. Whether seen as such or not by those visiting it over the next several weeks, it is certainly an underscoring of her ability to produce imagines that are both personal and approachable, and which express so much whilst remaining so perfectly minimal.

Entitled Unspoken, this small but highly impactful collection of pieces is very much a continuation of Connections in terms of presentation, style and focus, whilst also taking us deeper into moments of intimacy and tenderness, and of shared experiences where words are, simply, superfluous, unwanted, unnecessary.

Unspoken explores the feelings that defy verbal translation—moments of profound vulnerability, quiet resilience, and complex inner truths. For many, silence is the safest space to exist, process, and protect one’s truest self. By stripping away the noise of explanation, Unspoken invites viewers to sit with these quiet moments. It challenges us to look beyond the surface, connect through shared human experience, and listen to the powerful stories told strictly through the eyes, gestures, and stillness of the human form.

– From the artist

Through these pieces we can witness a story that is never forced, never overtly stated, but which instead exists in the nuance of pose and focus. A story of quiet moments of intimacy and vulnerability, of love and being, which are expressed both through studies of the individual and those shared with another.

Within each piece is a flow of those moments existing in the brief, transient space this exists between longer, deeper moments of intimacy and expression, but are also within their brief flourish, rich in emotion and feeling, only needing a flash of recognition in order for them to indelibly imprint themselves on our consciousness.

We hear much about the power of non-verbal communication and the inability of our current digitally-driven realm to transmit these wordless aspects of communication. All that is said on the subject is true; there is so much about Second Life that does communicate – but there is so much of communication that is absent from it.

However, that absence is not absolute; through the pieces presented within Unspoken, Mui both offers us the connection to the unspoken wealth of mood, feelings and expressive which can be found through our avatars and which, if brought to the point of practical expressiveness could so readily transform our digital world into one of intense meaning and contented sharing.

SLurl Details

• The Annex at Nitroglobus (Sunshine Homestead, rated Moderate)

It’s been over a year since I last had the opportunity to visit a exhibition of art by Melusina Parkin; I suspect the reason for this is us both having things going on in the physical world which have taken up time and attention. However, that does not excuse the fact I’m a little tardy in getting to this particular exhibition, as Melu originally invited me to pay it a visit back in May 2026 – an invitation I immediately filed and then had a lapse of memory over (one of many of late!); so my apologies to her for only just having been able to visit.

Fortunately, the new exhibition is a permanent set occupying the upper level of Melu’s Minimal Gallery. It presents something of a tour de force of her work in two parts. The outermost is called The Labyrinth and the inner Cold Days. Together they offer 100 of Melu’s distinctive images of locations found within Second Life, with the outer of the two collections taking its name from the use of wall space to guide people around and eventually and gently direct them to the inner collection.

What is deeply engaging about Melu’s work is the manner in which she frames it. Rather than looking at a whole scene, she finds a specific point of view and within it a specific focal point to compose her picture around both through camera placement and angle coupled with considered cropping. The result – whether the subject is a landscape, an open space, architecture or an everyday time such as a chair or a view through a window, or the mesh of a wire fence – is to offer something which captures the eye and the imagination.

These are pieces which tell a portion of a story; but quite what part of the story- beginning, middle or end – and what it might be about is up to each of us to decide. In this – and as I’ve noted in the past in covering Melu’s art – her work both prompts us to create narratives around what we see, and it demonstrates that Second Life itself is a place of the imagination; of dreams made real, the places we as creators would like to live within or visit.

It also, in contrast to this latter point, helps us to perceive aspects of the digital realm which mimic what might be found anywhere in the physical world, be it along a street or when looking up at a skyline or out over a foggy coast or along the rolling tide of a sun-swept hills; the things which we might otherwise take for granted when seen as a part of an entire scene but which through Melusina’s lens, helps to to perceive why Second Life is so real for do many of us; a place we can inhabit.

All of this is very much in evidence as one walks around and through The Labyrinth with its 80 images. These are presented with no centralised theme, but instead flow gently from landscapes to urban settings and back, each perspective unique, colour images mixing easily with those in monochrome. Cold Days, offering 20 images is likewise mixed – but here there is something of an over-arching theme, as suggested by the collection’s title.

Within these pieces, the sense of shortening days, cold winds, the threat of rain or snow is evident without ever being the dominating factor; instead it is hinted at through the heavy skies, the use of monochrome and / or largely muted colours. There is a gentle hint of threat in many of the pieces – be it in the form of rain or snow or indeed, emanating from the structures seen in some of the pieces, their faces bleak and grey and / or blocky and uninviting. But is it the leaden sky that makes the structures seem oppressive and downcast, or is the the unforgiving angular forms of warehouses, apartment blocks which cause the sky to feel so dour?

Which is not to say these are bleak pictures, rather that (again) they offer our imaginations the opportunity to create unique narratives around them. And when colour does blaze forth it does so in a manner that is uplifting and rich in the promise of brighter, warmer days or the promise of warmth and safety from the brooding weather. Just look at the way the yellow cab of a VW van noses into one picture, or the manner in which a neon advertising sign reminds us the days will be fresher, brighter, or the comfort is seeing the stalwart tower of a lighthouse warding those at sea away from harm or the hint of a front door just around the corner and the promise of warmth and cosiness beyond it.

As always with Melusina’s work, The Labyrinth and Cold Days offer a rewarding visit for lovers of SL art.

SLurl Details

• Minimal Gallery (Lunula, rated Moderate)