Category: Art in Second Life

Kraven Klees: a digital master In Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Janus Gallery III: Kraven Klees

Towards the start of the year I wrote about the simply brilliant art of Kraven Klees, at the time being exhibited at Chuck Clip’s Janus Gallery I, Sinful Retreat (see: The digital mastery of Kraven Klees in Second Life). It therefore seems only right that as the year draws to a close, I return to Sinful Retreat and the Janus Gallery III, where Kraven is again the guest artist – and once again, presents a simply magnificent select of his work.

While it is a term more usually applied to the world of film and the idea of cinematic collaboration, it’s hard to look at Kraven’s digital art and not see him as a auteur. By taking photographs and combining them with both fractal generating software and assorted art genres – impressionism, abstractionism, surrealism, Kraven works subjectively to bring together multiple ideas and techniques to create pieces that are stunningly layered and narratively rich.

Janus Gallery III: Kraven Klees

Within Twisted Imagery, we are treated to all of this and more. Whether a piece utilises an iconic image as its basis – such as with Shhh, featuring Pete Humphreys’ finger-on-lips David Bowie – or offers a landscape that offers us a glimpse of autumnal warmth not only through the use of colour, but also through the manner in which the use of fractals creates a sense of flow within its lines (Autumn Road), all of the the pieces on display are an utter delight to behold. Wrapped within all them is not only a use of fractal generation, but also touches of abstraction, impressionism, realism and surrealism.

In terms of narrative, these are pieces are as equally as engaging. In some, the narrative is as layered as the piece; in others it forms a symbiosis with the art. Take Welcome My Son on the upper level of the gallery, for example, together with Peyote alongside of it. In the first, we have a richly layered narrative: there’s the natural protectiveness and comfort in the way the father is holding his baby son, the suggestion that the babe is either new or recently born; there’s then the sense of wonder and confusion in the baby’s eyes while his overall expression of calm suggests he is being comforted by that parental warmth, and finally the colours and swirls give the depth of emotion and feeling – pride from the father, and trust and peace from the child.

Janus Gallery III: Kraven Klees

Beside it, Peyote sits as a piece and title that both inform one another, working in a symbiosis that carries us into the world of native American Indians. Both evoke the manner in which the spineless cactus, rich in psychoactive alkaloids, has played a central medicinal roles in American Indian culture, and also its use without non-medicinal “vision quests”. Meanwhile, those seeking a rich presentation of surrealism need look no further than the exotic Clockhead, whilst on the lower level, 101st Airborne presents a richly evocative piece that draws on paintings that commemorate the US military, thus taking us in yet another direction.

All of the above really just scratches the surface of Kraven’s art, both as a whole and within Twisted Imagery as an exhibition of selected pieces. I say this because all of his work has a depth – in content, colour, narrative, and style – that is genuinely unique. As such, this is (again) an exhibition that should not be missed by anyone with a passion or interest in art.

Janus Gallery III: Kraven Klees

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Art and Virtual Identity in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Margherita Hax, Virtual Identity

To round out what has been another year of totally flawless exhibitions at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, Dido Haas has invited Margherita Hax to present the first ever gallery exhibition of her SL photography, which will be up through the month of December.

Entitled Virtual Identity, this is a fascinating series of black-and-white avatar studies that are in and of themselves, a demonstration of the art of photography in its truest. From framing through the use of focus, depth of field, filters, cropping, to post-processing, these are images that are visually engaging. Within them, can be found both single-frame narratives and threads of broader stories and themes.

While the title of this exhibition suggests a focus purely on a matter of the “real” and “virtual” identity dichotomy, it does so from a broader perspective than we might normally view it:  purely from how an individual presents themselves through their avatar, actions and words to create a character. While this is part of Virtual Identity, so to is the other – oft overlooked  – aspect of identity: how we overlay what we see through projection, being overly focused on our own emotions and even idolatry. In doing so, it also touches on subjects such as honesty and filtering.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Margherita Hax, Virtual Identity

Within Second Life, much has been made about the freedom of expression we have: one to another, the majority of us are very much anonymous, with complete agency over how we choose to present ourselves via our avatar’s appearance and – more intrinsically –  what we chose to reveal of our actual natures and selves. Many commentators have seen this as something that leans very much towards the beneficial, with a  quote by Oscar Wilde often being used to underline this point:

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

– Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist (1891)

However, as a truism, this quote is actually a double-edged sword; whilst broadly taken as a being a “good” thing for our freedom of expression in Second Life; Wilde’s words also underline the fact that that very anonymity can be used to detriment; not only in the more obvious ways we all think of, but also in one-to-one interactions and relationships, in that the likes of avatar appearance and the use of text make it both next to impossible to judge intent. Thus, within it lies a paradox, as Margherita notes:

I have always felt the fascination of this paradoxical combination of emotions which, although limited and contained by an important filter in one sense, flow even stronger into the other. Thus, suspended from judging what is true or fake, in my photos, through portraits, gazes, stories and attitudes, I try to show and narrate emotions, lifestyle, relationships and (why not) love in 3D.

Through a central story – told down one arm of the gallery, and more individual pieces down the other, Margherita tells both the story of a Second Life relationship from beginning to end, whilst also opening up questions of what level of reality that can be found purely through a screen / text relationship. Both are somewhat linked through the use of mythological figures: Narcissus, Eros and Athena.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Margherita Hax, Virtual Identity

In particular, the former is used in an emphasis of what the artist calls “fake love”. It actually sits well with Projections, the two underlining how projecting our own needs / wants / desires into a relationship as a result of what we see is something that can result in heartache and hurt, regardless of any intent on the part of the other within the relationship. Eros, meanwhile, is used as a symbol of true love, and in the process perhaps offers a pairing with Athena and PinkPower in expressing the natural outflow of emotion and contentment that can be brought to the fore when our real personalities and heartfelt feelings are brought to the fore, and honesty forms the basis of our interactions with one another.

By using different avatars throughout, Margherita offers a reminder of how the two sides of identity and its role in a relationship and who we are. That something as simple as a change in appearance  – from skin tone through to gender – can completely alter perceptions, responses and personal outlook. This further underlines her central tenet of Margherita’s description of the exhibition: that when we are reliant purely on a single filter, emotions and projection also become singular; something that can be, depending on the intent of both parties, potentially harmful  – or actually unifying.

Remarkable in its power, this is an exhibition that offers multiple opportunities for discussion, there is simply so much wrapped within the images and the themes. As individual pieces, the images at Nitroglobus are all inspiring in their presentation and depth; by using the west-east arm of the gallery to focus on a core story of love (and regret), and the north-south arm for more “individual” pieces that can also help to underline the motifs and emotions of the other arm, Margherita offers an exhibition of two intertwined halves that might be said to present a metaphor that again underlines her idea of paradox.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Margherita Hax, Virtual Identity

As this is the end of the year, and  – as I’ve noted – another superb series of exhibitions at Nitroglobus, I’d like to close with a personal note with regards to Dido herself. Her approach to the exhibitions she hosts – invitation, collaboration, encouragement, the use of additional 3D to offer contrast or emphasis, her sheer enthusiasm for art, makes any visit to Nitroglobus a consistent delight and an absolute pleasure to write about in these pages.

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Jeanie’s summer moments in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
KonectART Gallery: Jeanie – Wishes and Wanderings

Jeanie (jeanienabottle) is the manager of Art Korner gallery in Second Life. – and she is also an excellent photographer-artist herself. Proof of this can currently be seen – for a while longer at least – via an exhibition of her work on display at KonectART Gallery.

Entitled Wishes and Wanderings, for anyone who is already tired of snow, snow, and more snow in regions, it might be a welcome harkening back to summer days and times outdoors or the warm colours of early autumn.

What I particularly like about Jeanie’s art is that whilst most of us (myself included) tend to keep to a single frame size when exhibiting their art for a sense of uniformity, she is not afraid to mix her canvas sizes, offering pieces that are cropped to precisely the narrative she wishes to present.

KonectART Gallery: Jeanie – Wishes and Wanderings

Thus we have marvellous pieces such as Plough, sitting against a backdrop of a 1940s/50s vintage pick-up truck; it captures a sense of history down the decades, from the era of the horse as the engine of the farm, to the era of the internal combustion engine through the opening decades of the 20th century.

Elsewhere, Jeanie provides more panoramic pieces that capture an entire landscape or the beauty of flowers sitting in the sun and all points between. Take, for example, the marvellous pairing of Peace; within it is a soft sense of autumnal comfort and romance. Throughout the selection are pictures that offer tales of childhood, times past, and stories of possible mystery (Summerland).

For someone who notes in her Profile that she specialises in avatar-centric studies, through Wishes and Wanderings Jeanie demonstrates she has a gifted eye for landscape and natural images and for cropping, together with a lightness of touch in post-processing that is utterly engaging.

KonectART Gallery: Jeanie – Wishes and Wanderings

Having opened on November 17th, 2021, I believe Wishes and Wanderings will be around for another couple of weeks – and it is an exhibition that genuinely should not be missed. To reach it, take the elevator alongside the landing point.

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Sensual wings and written reflections in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kondor Art Centre: Lika Cameo – One Thousand Wings

November 25th marked the opening of a new exhibition at the Kondor Art Centre, curated by Hermes Kondor, of a themed selection of images and words by Lika Cameo (LikaCameo) that is utterly extraordinary in its presentation of art, introspection / reflection and in its presentation style.

One Thousand Wings takes as its foundation, the major part of a quote from Virginia Woolf:

[Lock up your libraries if you like;] but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.

– Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Within that essay – the result of two lectures she delivered in October 1928 to the women’s constituent colleges of Newnham and Girton at Cambridge University, England – Woolf sought to explore social injustices and comment on women’s lack of free expression that existed at the time. This quote is joined by a verse by artist Erin Hanson:

There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?

– Erin Hanson

Kondor Art Centre: Lika Cameo – One Thousand Wings

While there are some core against various views Woolf expresses within that essay, Lika uses the quote from her essay, and the words by Hanson to explore what it means to freely express emotions in a century that has started to feel as if our freedoms are being increasingly being constrained by intolerance and when life has been constrained by a global pandemic, complete with a layering of what freedom means to her.

In doing this, Lika presents trios of avatar studies, all utilising the same pose and with a motif of wings, each piece finished individual to its partners. This approach leads to three images that, whilst all identical in terms of posing and motif, offer three pieces that offer a vastly different sense of depth, focus and emotions.

Accompanying them is a piece of prose  / blank verse (by either Lika or possibly Zakk Bifrandt, it’s not entirely clear) that offers an outlook / sense of emotion or thought that works to both complement and compliment the images.

Kondor Art Centre: Lika Cameo – One Thousand Wings

Complement, because the text can be taken as a whole with each version of the image and the trio as a whole, forming pairings with each image, working with the subtle differences in presentation and finish to tell a unique story of reflection / emotion. Compliment, because whether taken as pairings or as set of four panels, they together form a whole, works balancing image(s).  Each set of images is further reflected in animated double-sided panels that offer a further, changing take on the sets.

As expressions of freedom, these image carry a powerful metaphor in the use of birds and butterflies to express the freedom of thought taking flight, as captured in Erin Hanson’s words. As reflections of emotion and release in a time when were are under pressure to conform or keep our feelings under wraps, this is an incredibly powerful series of images. More particularly they stand as insightful, emotive reminders that it is so easy to become trapped within ourselves  – something that Lika expresses beautifully through her own words:

Often our thoughts tangle around the soul, forging our prisons, never grasping that we are always the key to our infinite free will.

Lika Cameo

Kondor Art Centre: Lika Cameo – One Thousand Wings

As demonstrations of art and how to use lighting, colour, tone and other post-processing techniques to impart a range of emotional responses to a single image, One Thousand Wings is equally as powerful an exhibition; and while I’ve oft said this – it is an exhibition that should be seen and appreciated.

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Sisi’s cityscapes and shorelines in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Raging Graphix Gallery: Sisi Biedermann

It’s no secret that I’m a huge admirer of Sisi Biedermann and her art. The way she is constantly shifting her style and focus means that she offers one of the broadest and most engaging ranges of art to be found in Second Life, and her exhibitions invariably offer something new to appreciate and admire.

This is certainly the case with her exhibition at Raging Graphix Gallery, operated and curated by Liv (RagingBellls). Occupying the upper floor of the gallery, this is selection of art that comes in two parts: within the main are of the exhibition floor are thirteen pieces collected under the title Dusk & Dawn, with five further pieces located at the top of the stairwell leading into the exhibition space.

As the name suggests, Dusk & Dawn presents a mix of images between them representing early mornings and sunsets – although such a simple description does not do these pieces any justice at all. This is a gourmet selection of digital art pieces that mix city skylines and coastal scenes that have a richness of colour and depth that is extraordinary.

Raging Graphix Gallery: Sisi Biedermann

The skylines concerns are pretty much instantly recognisable, with those of New York offering unique takes on some familiar landmarks, whilst the Golden Gate is perfectly framed in a hazy, misty morning sky that many will be familiar with  from film, television and photographs but which is here given a new twist through the use of colour that gives a warmth of colour whilst suggestion of a cool morning.

Meanwhile, within the coastal scenes are views filled with the warmth of sunset that carry the imagination to exotic places with warm seas and long, cool cocktails waiting to be enjoyed before a sunset walk along the beach. There are also images that bring to mind early mornings and times when motor fishing boats might be passing on their way to make their catch, or when we might walk the banks of a river or along the shoreline of a lake as the Sun is just high enough to start burning away the morning mist.

With some of the images finished with a touch of vignette, the use of soft tones and layered to offer an etching-like sense of texture and physical depth, these are genuinely captivating pieces.

Etched finishes are also much in evidence in the five pieces at the top of the stairway. These are taken from Sisi’s collection of digital art capturing the world of garden nature. Each features a central colour – pink, white, green, red and black – all joined by the word Magic. Each is an exquisite collage of colour, beautifully finished and presented.

Raging Graphix Gallery: Sisi Biedermann

It is hard to see Sisi’s art and not become caught up within it, such is the beauty to be found within each and every piece she produces. Miss this exhibition at your peril!

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Campbell Coast Art Walk 2021 in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Campbell Coast Art Walk: Zia and Samanthe 

Currently underway at Campbell Coast art centre, is their autumn 2021 Art Walk exhibition, featuring an outdoor display of art by a number of artists, and the opportunity to tour the study galleries within the village.

The featured artists for the Art Walk are: Eylinea Seabird (eylinea), Ourane NuevaVida (ourane), Loony Carabosse – Moretto (louna.perl), Samanthe Mirror, Traci Ultsch and Zia Sophia (zia.branner). Between they, they present a contrasting selection of art. Zia, as the closest to the landing point, presents to of her abstract painting from the physical world that are captivating in their use of colour, tone, contrast and line. Alongside of her, Samanthe presents four avatar studies, nicely balanced between colour and monochrome pieces that offer narratives on an individual’s life, from enjoying the simple pleasure of a hot drink to moments of dance and delight or of quiet introspection.

Campbell Coast Art Walk: Loony and Eylinea

Loony’s images, meanwhile make use of soft tones and carry a distinctly avian theme across two of them, whilst one presents a layered digital media piece. Beside these, Eylinea’s work is a stark contrast, giving us three simply marvellous digital pieces that are fabulously minimalist or abstracted, and gently animated in a manner that is genuinely captivating and calming.

Traci Ultsch is an artist who repeatedly pushes herself with her art; she has a fearlessness when it comes to experimentation and diving into different styles and genres. Her work has embraced avatar studies, landscapes, photography, whilst also offering personal statements on life and society. Here, bracketing the door to her studio gallery, she presents four stunningly abstract expressions of nature.

Campbell Coast Art Walk: Traci and Ourane

Ourane is an artist I’m not overly familiar with, but her paintings at Campbell Coast immediately captivated me. These are richly expressive pieces, their use of colour and line as unique as their subject matter.

As noted, the art walk also offers the opportunity to visit the boutique galleries of the other artists exhibiting at Campbell Coast as well, comprising Bijoux (BijouxBarr), Michiel Bechir, eta (etamae) and Jeanie (jeanienabottle), all of whom definitely worth viewing.

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