Category: Art in Second Life

Cica’s Playground in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Cica Ghost, March 2025: Playground

Having written the title to this piece, I realised that it could just as easily be “Cica’s Playground IS Second Life”, because for well over a decade now, Cica Ghost has been presenting 3D art installations within Second Life – and has been doing so monthly for the last few years.

As a result she has, and continues to, present a wide range of environments and settings, many of them more-or-less entirely whimsical, some of them wonderfully layered, offering views of folk tales or myths or ideas with a depth of perception and evocation which have never failed to inspire. Throughout much of her work there is a simple statement of joy in life, and it is this, as much as everything else she carefully wraps in her installations which has made me a long-time fan of her work, and why I have always tried to cover her installations in these pages, collecting them under my Cica Ghost tag.

Cica Ghost, March 2025: Playground

One of the first of Cica’s builds I both saw and wrote about was Ghostville, a 3D village inhabited by Cica’s (already by then) famous animated stick figures (see: A short stay in Ghostville). It was a wonderful experience, and led to further encounters with her little people in installations such as The Visitors, which made marvellous use of the pre-existing (but long since sadly departed from Second Life) art venue of La Città Perduta, aka The Lost City (see Visiting the Visitors).

I mention all of this because within Playground, which opened on March 25th, 2025, there is something of a nod towards those wonderfully animated stick figures, together with a range of other 2D elements offering memories of some of Cica’s past creatures and creations. They sit within a village-like environment which might also be regarded as an avant-garde playground (given everything appears to be made of carboard, adding to the playtime like feel) in which new 3D creatures bot large and small and quite wondrous in their respective forms might be found. I loved them all but the almost Yaphit-like pair brought a particular smile to my face – but that’s purely the sci-fi nerd in me!

Cica Ghost, March 2025: Playground

Such is the jollity here that even stars appear to have sprung from the ground along with flowers and clover, bopping to an unheard melody (there is an audio stream, but I preferred to keep it turned off) as much as some of the painted creatures and the various Cicas awaiting discovery.

The potential call-outs to many of Cica’s past design might be pointed to by fans of Cica’s work; however, whether they are intentional or not, I’ve no idea. This being the case I’ll leave it to people to decide for themselves, because I don’t want to give the impression this is a place that cannot be enjoyed in its own right or is in any way some form of intentional retrospective – it is not; it is simply that there are a lot of perfect little bells that might chime for some in visiting, but which also do not diminish Playground in any way if they pass unheard.

Cica Ghost, March 2025: Playground

As is common with Cica’s build, visitors can join in with the fun via dancing, while the particularly energetic can jump up onto one of the local flying saucers and help keep them spinning (and flying?). These are not the only way to get airborne – hidden in plain sight is the means to bring out your inner Supergirl / Superman – but you can find that on your own 😀 . For those seeking a little rest afterwards (or perhaps a mug of 2D coffee!) there are various places to set down and recover.

In all – wonderful!

Cica Ghost, March 2025: Playground

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Scylla’s “Almost” in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
IMAGO Art Galleries, March 2025: Scylla Rhiadra – Almost

Philosophy and art can make for an interesting coupling; on the one hand, philosophy can trigger an artistic response that in turn might serve to illustrate the central thesis being discussed; on the other, art triggered by a philosophical precept can go on to spur thinking and reflection which can reach beyond the original focus of both the art and / or the precept it initially illustrated.

Such is the case with Scylla Rhiadra’s Almost, a compelling series of pieces of art with accompanying textual extracts (often a common element within Scylla’s work), which opened to public display on March 20th, 2025 at Mareea Farrasco’s  IMAGO Art Galleries.

As I’ve noted in covering past exhibitions of her work, Scylla is one of the most gifted communicators in Second Life; her ability to to use art to convey ideas, feelings, realities and truths, and/or to expose concepts and ideas and encourage the grey stuff between the ears to fire on all available cylinders, is second to none. Nor is she unfamiliar with building upon philosophical thinking to explore our notions of what it is to be human, to live, to move through life; in this I would point to Swerve, her exhibition from 2024 which grew out of reflections on atomism as prompted by Titus Lucretius Carus (see Scylla’s Swerve at Nitroglobus in Second Life for more).

IMAGO Art Galleries, March 2025: Scylla Rhiadra – Almost

Within Almost she takes as her seed the work of the ancient Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea – specifically one of his Paradoxes of Motion (which are perhaps the most well-known of his paradoxes), which Scylla refers to as his “Atalanta Paradox”, but which is perhaps better know as the Dichotomy Argument.

In this Zeno asks us to imagine the Greek heroine and athlete running half the distance to a finishing line, and then requires us to notionally half the remaining distance and time again, and again, and again, ad infinitum. The “logical” and mathematically “provable” corollary of this exercise is the realization that the runner will never reach her goal; she will merely get closer and closer, by smaller and smaller spatial and temporal increments.

– Scylla Rhiadra, introducing Almost

IMAGO Art Galleries, March 2025: Scylla Rhiadra – Almost

The Dichotomy Argument, together with Achilles and the Tortoise and Zeno’s Arrow Paradox are regarded as such because between them, they postulate that everything is, to all intents a purposes, motionless. Atalanta can never finish her race; Achilles can never catch the tortoise, that at any given point in its flight, the arrow is in fact standing still. Not only does this mean the races / arrow flight can never be completed – they can never actually commence – which is clearly a logical fallacy, given they can and do. This fallacy offers some interesting lines of thinking, as Scylla goes on to note:

I found the concept an interesting metaphorical approach to understanding what it means to be “human,” existing in real time and space. In some ways, we are always “almost” something or another, in part because we are always in the process of becoming — of “almost” being someone or somewhere else — and because it is a fundamental condition of human existence that we never achieve an ultimate, absolute state.

– Scylla Rhiadra, introducing Almost

Thus, within this series, Scylla presents images which explore the dichotomy created within Zeno’s paradoxes in a highly visual manner.  Each offers a complete story on the human condition within its frame, whilst simultaneously presenting the potential for much broader narratives.

IMAGO Art Galleries, March 2025: Scylla Rhiadra – Almost

In this they are like Atalanta’s race – just as they almost present a “finished” image and idea, so to do they hint at a further measure of consideration, a further line of narrative, drawing the imagination onwards towards a line of “understanding” we never quite reach as we constantly re-evaluate what we are seeing within each image as our view shifts and changes both in light of our emotional state / mental processes and in reaction to reading the text accompanying each piece.

And it is in the textual excerpts that Scylla again teases; whilst they might almost illuminate an image in terms of a single point of understanding, so do they also open doors on to new avenues – or corridors, as Scylla puts it – of thinking and reaction, which can themselves subdivide further than further the more we dwell on what the text might say / mean and what might have motivated its selection.

IMAGO Art Galleries, March 2025: Scylla Rhiadra – Almost

This makes Almost wonderfully subjective – perhaps “personal” might be a better term; there is no single “given” within any single image or its text. Instead there are layers of potential that might be peeled away as each piece and its companion words are examined and considered, very much informed by the feelings and thoughts we bring to them as much as by the scenes they capture. A magnificent and deeply engaging series rich in interpretation from one of Second Life’s most engaging photographic artists.

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Duraya’s I See People in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kondor Arts Centre, March 2025: Duraya – I See People

The term “AI art” can tend to be a barbed one. There are understandable – and in my view valid – ethical concerns surrounding AI-generated art, and the fact that many of the models which power the generative tools behind AI art are trained using copyrighted material often without the consent or compensation of the original artists. Indeed, when it comes to matters of copyright, David Holz, creator of Midjourney has shown scant regard for the concept when interviewed – and he is far from alone.

However, the flip side to this – and without wanting to get overly caught within convoluted ethical discussions – there is a case to be made for the fact that when used correctly, AI tools can be a useful means of enhancing an artist’s creativity; the use of algorithms and prompts to manipulate and build on pieces of and artist’s original pieces, enabling them to create something new – and possibly surprising.

Kondor Arts Centre, March 2025: Duraya – I See People

Such considered, curated use can result in extraordinary art; and such is the case with I See People, an exhibition of original art by Duraya, now on display through March / April at the Kondor Art Club, curated by Hermes Kondor and forming part of the Kondor Arts hub.

This is a series of engaging studies of “people”, some drawn / painted by Duraya, others (I believe) photographs of her avatar. All have been subject to AI treatment at Duraya’s command to produce the finished result. All are rich in detail and – perhaps surprisingly to some – rich in emotion / sentiment.

Kondor Arts Centre, March 2025: Duraya – I See People
When I first got in contact with AI I thought ‘huh, everyone can click around a bit to get fantastic results, what a cheat’. It’s true in a way. But if you learn to ‘tame the beast’ and understand how to ride it it’s a fantastic addition to creation like all the post procession devices.
My AI-edited pictures are all based on my own work, playing with prompts, settings and images until I get the result I want, thus accomplishing a mixture of reality and virtuality, sometimes with a little surprising twist.

– Duraya, discussing her AI-assisted art

These are genuinely individual pieces strong in narrative, presenting many aspects of the human condition –  from the trials of life on the personal level: dealing with loneliness, our natural curiosity, the realities of aging, and so on; through to matters that might be seen as more global issues, worries and conditions that challenge us both individually and as a society. Their depth is further enhanced by the styles and approaches Duraya has employed to give them both a sense of of individuality as well as allowing them to be defined – in some cases – thematically as well.

Kondor Arts Centre, March 2025: Duraya – I See People

And in returning to my opening comments, they might well help alter perceptions about the considered and restrained use of AI as a tool for creativity, rather than purely within those terms which leave us unable to see it as anything other than a negative influence.

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Three Kultivate March Exhibitions in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kultivate Magazine – Windlight Gallery, March 2025

It’s been a while since I’ve covered an art exhibition at Kultivate Magazine’s gallery spaces. Indeed, it’s been so long that the gallery spaces themselves have been remodelled in the intervening time; rather than occupying three separate buildings within the the half of the Kultivate region devoted to art exhibitions (the other half of the region being devoted to Kultivate events), the indoor gallery spaces – Windlight, Edge and Signature – have been combined into conjoined halls within a single building.

This change means that viewing the different exhibitions within the thee indoor gallery spaces is move fluid, with visitors far more likely to take all of them in than might have previously been the case, wherein visitors may have obtained the landmark / SLurl to one of the three galleries possibly at the expense of the other two. It also means that within this article, I get to offer information on three exhibitions rather than just one, and hopefully encourage you to visit all three.

Kultivate Magazine – Windlight Gallery, March 2025 – Milly Sharple

The first of these exhibitions is the most recent to open (March 16th, 2025) and within the Windlight hall. Simply entitled the March Exhibition, and features the work of thirteen artists, with a lean towards Second Life landscape pieces, with digital art mixed into it. the layout of the gallery space allows each artiest to have a clearly defined space in which to display their work, each with the name of the artist clearly displayed and with the ability to offer a biography included as well.

These artists are: AuraLux, Alex Riverstone (Alex44 Riverstone), Dante Helios (Dantelios), Flicker Bayn, Hadiya Draper, Harlo Jamison (HarlowJamison), Jamee (Jamee Sandalwood), John (Johannes Huntsman), Milly Sharple, Myra Wildmist, Pi (Piggs Boucher), Rosie Riverstone (YsabellaRose), and Sheba Blitz. Together, and even with the lean towards SL landscapes, they offer a rich mix of art and approaches to their work, with the digital pieces from the likes of Milly (an artist whose work I particularly appreciate!) and Hadiya (to name two in the exhibition), again showing how SL can be used to bring art created in the physical world to a much broader audience than might otherwise be the case.

Kultivate Magazine – Edge Gallery

Three of the artists featured in the Windlight March 2025 exhibition can also be found within the Edge gallery hall. The Edge gallery is specifically reserved for black-and-white art, and at the time of my visit featured an engaging mix of SL landscapes and avatar studies with a touch of physical world art.

The three artists found both within the Edge exhibition (the title of which I do not have) and the Windlight hall, are AuraLux, Alex Riverstone (Alex44 Riverstone) and John (Johannes Huntsman). They are joined by  Chic Aeon, Meycy (Meycy Bailey), Tempest Rosca, and Vee (Veruca Tammas). Again, all of the pieces are visually engaging, but I admit to having been particularly drawn to Tempest’s triptych-like series of black-and-white photographs from the physical world.

Kultivate Magazine – Edge Gallery – Tempest Rosca

Facing the Edge gallery on the other side of the Windlight Hall is a smaller Signature Gallery hall which, at the time of my visit was hosting Expressions, a collection of themed abstract paintings by John (Johannes Huntsman) – who is, along with Tempest Rosca – the owner / operator of the Kultivate Galleries.

Expressions might be seen as a series of four sets of images, each of four individual pieces each, all of which are presented in predominantly primary colours – red, blue, yellow – with some of the pieces / sets mixing into themselves elements of secondary colours and tones present in some to present further colour and visual depth. Such is the thematic use of colours within the pieces, they stand as individual pieces suitable for hanging at home, or as complete sets or even mix-and-match sets.

Kultivate Magazine, Signature Gallery, March 2025 – Johannes Huntsman

The exhibitions for the price of one teleport – and all worth the time to visit.

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The Shape of the Whirlwind in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, March 2025: Bamboo Barnes – The Shape of the Whirlwind

Art exhibitions at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, operated and curated by Dido Haas, are – as I’ve frequently mentioned in these pages – among the best in Second Life in terms of visual content, theme, richness of expression and the challenges Dido tends to offer the artists invited to exhibit at her gallery. However, there are times when the artist appearing at the gallery has a reputation for offering thematic art intended to to provoke the grey matter into cogitation without any prompting from Dido.

One such artist is Bamboo Barnes. To me, she is one of the most vibrant and emotive artists in Second Life. She is also one of the most unique in terms of content and in the manner in which she mixes digital techniques, blending images captured in SL wand via digital means, her use of vibrant colours and abstracted overlays. In doing so, her art is always marvellously expressive, reflecting her inner thoughts, feeling and perceptions, whilst also being strongly assertive in its own right. This latter aspect additionally allows individual pieces speak directly to the observer, both in terms of the over-arching theme of an exhibition, and as pieces standing in their own right.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, March 2025: Bamboo Barnes – The Shape of the Whirlwind

Such is the case with The Shape of the Whirlwind, Bamboo’s latest exhibition (at the time of writing!) to be hosted by Dido at Nitroglobus. However, there is a further unique twist (or two) about this exhibition. The first is that it is – if my memory is not failing me (which is entirely possible!) – this is the first exhibition to span both halls of the gallery, both the main hall and the Annex.

The other element of uniqueness with this exhibition is that I’m not going to wibble on about it here, as is usually my wont. This is because Bamboo has provided an excellent introduction to both The Shape of the Whirlwind and the thought processes that brought her to create the pieces displayed and which are reflected through the pieces. I think her own words introduce the exhibition in such a way that any exposition / interpretation on my part would be little more than a distraction. So, I’ll let Bamboo speak for herself.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, March 2025: Bamboo Barnes – The Shape of the Whirlwind
I have never been inside a vortex, but I wonder what the distortion of the world would look like when being able to see from the inside.
The concept of a vortex—something that twists and distorts the flow of reality—becomes a metaphor for the hidden, often imperceptible forces that shape our lives and selves. Inside a vortex, the world would bend and stretch, the familiar becoming strange, as if time itself were folding in on itself. The distortion of sight would be overwhelming, pulling you into a realm where what you think you know, what you think you see, slips away from your grasp, much like memories that fade or shift when you try to grasp them.

– Bamboo Barnes on The Shape of the Whirlwind

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, March 2025: Bamboo Barnes – The Shape of the Whirlwind
Rising just a little against gravity, you might glimpse what is hidden—perhaps the edges of your own consciousness, which you usually only sense in fragments. And yes, memories, while they seem solid, can distort the truth, shaping how we see the world around us. The tension between the unseen forces and our struggle to maintain our sense of self would feel like a constant, gentle pull, drawing us into something greater than our understanding, yet more familiar than we’d like to admit.
At least remembering something, someone—however fleeting—might be a tether to a time before the vortex, a trace of what we were, or what we might still become. What do you think? What is it that you’re trying to remember or hold onto through this?

– Bamboo Barnes on The Shape of the Whirlwind

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, March 2025: Bamboo Barnes – The Shape of the Whirlwind

A genuinely rich and engaging exhibition given added depth through the use of animated elements (sometimes directly, sometimes as additional overlays) which mirror the twisting tumbling nature of thoughts and emotions are they surround us, and further supported as well as 3D elements by Bamboo and pieces by other artists placed within the gallery space by Dido, The Shape of the Whirlwind should seen and appreciated.

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Arcanum: introspection through art in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Arcanum [Artsy], March 2025
Aria Solstice (Aria1111 Skydancer) is a multi-talented creator whose time and work has spanned not only Second Life, but environments such as AltspaceVR, Horizons  and VR Chat. Her in-world store ARTSY – is one of the go-to destinations for those seeking PBR materials and / or PBR-centric décor items, furnishings, skyboxes, buildings, or EEP packs – and now immersive art.

As a creator, she has worked hard to create her brand – one I first became aware of through her PBR tutorials and which I now use regularly for my PBR materials  needs. Her dedication to her work can be seen through the fact that she moved to Second Life in 2023, then spent a year refining her brand and stock specific for Second Life prior to opening in May 2024 showcasing her skills as a 2D and 3D artist-creator.

Arcanum [Artsy], March 2025
With Arcanum, Aria presents an immersive installation comprising  – at the time it opened – eight “realms” of light, form, tone and / or colour. Each is its own unique environment I’m not about to describe here – simply because they should be experienced first-hand for both their beauty and the the questions or statements they hold.  However, before turning to them in at least some degree, a few quick notes about experiencing the installation:

  • Please note that it is fully PBR: you will need a PBR-capable viewer in order to see it.
  • Make sure you have local sounds enabled.
  • Accept the experience to use the portals to move to / from realms (starting with the door portal at the entrance to the installation, and including the telephone booths which will take you to each of the realms).
  • Remember that Arcanum is highly introspective: each realm might offer or reveal more to you about yourself the longer you spend within it in contemplation of its visual offering and – most particularly – in the question it asks.

Arcanum [Artsy], March 2025
Perhaps the best way to define the installation is through the words found on the wall of the entrance foyer, which I recommend visitor take the time to read prior to progressing through the teleport door to reach the desert and the start of a journey through the installation:

You stand at the threshold of realities that exist between thought and form, dream and substance. Arcanum is not merely a collection of spaces, but a journey through the architecture of consciousness itself. Each realm awaits your exploration – luminous geometries, flowing energies and artsy dimensions that desire your presence and contemplation. As you move through these environments, you may discover that they are not separate from you, but extensions of your own perception. The questions you encounter are invitations – gateways to insights that may reveal themselves in unexpected moments. There are no right answers here, only authentic ones. 
Some visitors my find Arcanum speaks to parts of themselves they have forgotten. Others discover new territories within their imagination. What you find here is what you bring – your curiosity, your openness, you willingness to wonder. 

Arcanum introduction

Arcanum [Artsy], March 2025
Each of the eight realms offers a unique environment, featuring light, structure, form and three questions intended to resonate and encourage consideration / self-reflection. While there is apparently no given order for visiting each of the realms, the booths are arranged from left-to-right, and so perhaps subconsciously suggest an order to viewing. By coincidence, the leftmost booth – Silent Echo – perhaps offers the most ideal place to start; the static nature of its design and the presentation of its three questions before the waiting seats helping to encourage one into a necessary state of inward thinking and self-exploration as the colours within the hall gently change.

As one moves between them, each realm might be seen as reflecting the nature and spirit of the questions asked within it. Sometimes this is clear from the outset – notably in Duality; whilst elsewhere, the relationship might be more subtle in nature (Bioluminescence, Arcanum’s Lair), and sometimes it might be felt more than seen (Aura Doodles, Field of LED). Hence why time should be spent in each, contemplating their questions and statements and the responses they evoke – and in pursuing those responses and what they might reveal about self; all the while moving through and observing the very physical environment each realm presents.

Arcanum [Artsy], March 2025
For my part, as well as giving me pause to cogitate on the questions within Arcanum – both in terms of myself and what they might reveal about Aria as a creative.  I was also fascinated by two highly personal reactions it caused in me.

The first was  the way several of the realms evoked a desire to witness them fully immersed through VR, marking the first time I’ve felt such a conscious desire where headsets are concerned. The second was in the way they resonated with me as something of an alternative manifestation of Bear’s “Country of the Mind” (Queen of Angels, 1990); his fictional VR-like psychotherapy technique used in the exploration of personality, nature, identity and self. Yes, what is described in the book in no way resembles the environments found within Arcanum, but the underlying concepts are (to me) remarkably similar.

Arcanum [Artsy], March 2025
Richly immersive and – if you give it time and rally immerse yourself within it – deeply engaging installation, Arcanum is, I gather from Aria, sent to evolve further over time. Which, when you consider the fact that it is a manifestation of introspection and reflection, is entirely natural; Aria’s creativity and thinking are not static nor single-tracked. As such, I would anticipate Arcanum growing and evolving in response to her own continued growth – and to thus remain relevant as we also grow and change and re-visit.

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  • Arcanum ([ARTSY], rated Moderate)