Category: Art in Second Life

Trinity Yazimoto is an artist who at one time featured quite regularly in this blog after I came across her art. However, I’d managed to lose track of her in recent years, so it was with a good deal of pleasure that I received an invitation from Owl Dragonash to drop into her Hoot Suite Gallery to see a selection of Trinity’s work on display.

Having joined SL in 2009, Trinity started as a merchant-creator making women’s apparel “the old fashioned way” – using textures, system layers and flexiprims. Teaching herself GIMP and PhotoShop, circumstance saw her expand her skills to photography in  2013, as she started visiting regions and recording them via images.

As she candidly notes, the computer she was using at the time didn’t have the horsepower to allow her to use (what was then called) Deferred Rendering and shadows – but this didn’t deter her. Instead, after taking her pictures, Trinity turned to PhotoShop, adding the necessary shadows to her work as a part of her post-processing work – at least until she was able to provide herself with a computer with the power needed to allow her to use shadow rendering in-world.

Gaining confidence, Trinity started exhibiting her work, first at her own gallery and then via invitations to display her work and through participating in various charity events, although more recently, she hasn’t – sadly – had the time to remain as immersed in SL art as she once was.

In Around the World With My Lil’ Friends, Trinity offers us a series of images  – some new, some from her existing portfolio (although never previously published) –  captured around Second Life that feature, as the title of the exhibition suggests, Trinity’s little animal friends enjoying various activities.

I started this project a few years ago. I always loved the lil bears from “Boogers” and the idea is to take them with me around the world.  They are good company, you know?

P.S. There will probably some more pics to come in the future….

– Trinity on Around the World with My Lil’ Friends.

This is a set of 11 pieces split between the two floors of the gallery that show Trinity’s bears and other little friends engaged in everything from a first romantic dinner for two through to racing go-karts and splashing around in a swimming pool or sitting in quiet contemplation, admiring nature – and more.

Each image offers a little story of its own, charmingly framed and easy to follow. Some of these actually spill out of the frame and into the 3D world of the gallery, with several little vignettes of these “lil’ people” set out in the various rooms and on the balcony, in either a continuance of a particular picture or in reflection of it.

This is a genuinely delightful selection of images, complete with engaging audience – and for those who want to see more of Trinity’s lil’ friends, make sure you wander the garden of the gallery.

SLurl Details

• Hoot Suite Gallery (Ruthsburg, rated Moderate)

Currently open – for a while longer, at least, given I’m getting to this piece very much on the late side! – are two exhibitions by artists I both appreciate and admire: Michiel Bechir and Sisi Biedermann, who between them present two very different, but equally captivating selections of images for visitors to appreciate and, if they so wish, purchase.

Anyone who is familiar with my coverage of the arts in Second Life knows I am enormously inspired by Sisi’s work, which I categorise as some of the most unique and captivating in Second Life. A  digital mixed-media artist, Sisi’s subject matter tends to be wide-ranging, covering everything from the natural world through in-world settings to the fantastical and even touching on the abstract and the near-surreal. This is enough to make her work attention-holding, displaying as they do a richness of imagination, style and colour.

However, what, for me, makes Sisi’s work doubly captivating is her ability to layer her pieces such that whilst each is a static piece, it has a sense of being alive; there is something inherently tactile about it that makes you want to run your fingers over it and feel the life within.

All of this is very much on display with her selection of art on display at the Kultivate Signature Gallery. There, spread over the three floors of the gallery space are 24 pieces that richly demonstrate Sisi’s artistry, including a ground-level display of six pieces celebrating her visits to a number of famous cities around the world. These are particularly engaging as the both capture the very essence of landmarks from the places Sisi has visited – The Elizabeth Tower (originally the Clock Tower) of London’s Palace of Westminster, The Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco, and New York’s Empire State Building and Chrysler Building (appearing twice) should all be instantly recognisable.

An aspect of these six in particular that I found particularly attractive is that five appear to suggest they have been physically etched rather than photo-layered, and the sixth – with Elizabeth Tower in the foreground – having an also embroidered look to it, thus making these pieces particularly organic in their styling.

The remaining two floors of the gallery hold further pieces of Sisi’s work waiting to engage and en trace. All are richly textured and coloured,  inviting the imagination to take flight.

A short walk (or quick teleport) away is the Kultivate Loft Gallery, where Michiel Bechir is currently exhibiting some 32 pieces of his Second Life landscape art, including several in a panoramic format that truly captures the breadth of the regions they represent, whilst four offer a dip into combining landscape with with avatar studies, featuring a subject in period dress suggestive of a Victorian woman of means on her travels.

What I find attractive in Michiel’s work is the manner in which he brings a location to life through camera placement and use of camera angle, always presenting us with a unique view of a place that brings out its natural beauty. His use of post processing also demonstrates a constrained touch that is just sufficient enough to add an evocative edge to his work without becoming top-heavy.

For this exhibition, Michiel has taken the opportunity to present his pieces as collections: most of the the display areas between the building’s structural support offer three or four images from the same location – the aforementioned Victorian Lady images, for example, were all captured in Witchwood. Thus, these pieces become more than individual pieces (although they can be purchased as such), but also sets of images that can be purchased and displayed together at home, making them very collectable.

I admit to not being too sure as to how long Sisi and Michiel will remain on display at Kultivate – these were exhibitions that started in September, so I really would recommendation that if they tickle your artistic fancy, you hop over to Kultivate sooner rather than later.

SLurl Details

Water Haven is rated Moderate.

• Kultivate Signature Gallery
• Kultivate Loft Gallery

 

 

 

Currently open at Raging  Graphix Gallery, curated by Raging Bellls is Enigma, another fascinating selection of art and words by Ladmilla and Eli Medier.

Working as a couple, Eli and Ladmilla have gained a reputation for their joint pieces – an image (generally by Ladmilla, although Eli does produce his own as well) accompanied by words by Eli. More that just poems and pictures, these are illustrated pieces that encompass thoughts, desires, and reflections on life, love and more, that capture the eye and imagination.

As I’ve noted when reviewing Ladmilla’s and Eli’s work, it is a perfect mix of styles: wonderfully layered images created by Ladmilla that have both a tactile richness and also a sense of great depth; and carefully constructed blank verse by Eli that compliment Ladmilla’s images as well as having to stand as poems in their own right.

An interesting contrast that I’ve noted with Ladmilla and Eli in their images is that Ladmilla often tends to lean towards the use of brighter, lighter colours in her work (although not exclusively so), while Eli tends towards cooler, heavier colours. This adds to the richness of the mix of images they can offer, and while Ladmilla does here present a couple of pieces that are of a deeper tone, they still retain a softer brightness within them, this contrast is visible within the pieces offered here, with Eli’s four image intentionally angled to the use of grey and colours that sit perfectly with his words.

Enigma will be open through until at least the end of November.

SLurl Details

• Raging Graphix Gallery (Heatherwood, rated Moderate)

 

Owl Dragonash has been a long-term patron of the arts in Second Life. She has supported artists through her curation of multiple art spaces, including most recently her own Hoot Suite Gallery, and she has done much to promote live music in Second Life, as well a providing huge support for a range of arts groups and locations in-world.

Owl has also been a keen SL traveller and blogger  over the years,  capturing regions, parcels, arts events and more. Over the years, it’s been my pleasure and privilege to come to know her and to experience first-hand her support, so it is will a genuine sense of pleasure that I  hope I can help turn the spotlight on Owl’s own work as a Second Life photographer and recorder of places to visit and appreciate through her new exhibition that is open through until December 2020, Travel Past & Present, which can be enjoyed at the Bare Rose Art Gallery.

I Love seeing the builds people create in Second Life. I feel these builds as Magic that weaves through helping to make along with all the people a soul in a virtual world.

– Owl Dragonash

This is a small exhibition that offers 10 of Owl’s pieces to appreciate, making it a cosy visit, despite the relative size of the gallery building. Taken within some of SL’s most popular public regions – some still available today, other now passed into the mists of time – these are pieces that offer us an engaging view of Second Life through Owl’s Eyes.

All ten are wonderful pieces, bearing a light touch of post-processing for a little added depth without in any way being over-bearing. Several of them have been rendered in the yellows of a late afternoon sky which not only bathes them in a warming glow, but also offers a natural reflection of Owl’s own warm nature. Even those that offer a sense of colder air – Elvion Crane for example – or are presented in darker tones – such as Stones at Sarawak  – have an unmissable warmth to them.

A small exhibition this may be, but it is nevertheless rich and colour and personality both in terms of the images and the artist.  As such, Travel Past & Present is a rewarding exhibition well worth visiting.

SLurl Details

• Bare Rose Art Gallery (Bare Rose, rated Moderate)

Back in 2015 I first encountered the 3D of Ciottolina Xue, a gifted, self-taught sculptress working in blender (and who also has an excellent eye and hand for producing 2D art pieces). The encounter was entirely by chance: I was attending an exhibition of Mistero Hifeng’s work with a rooftop garden setting when I came across two small pieces that, whilst as skilfully crafted as Mistero’s pieces, did not have the familiar feel of his work – and closer examination revealed their actual creator.

Following that encounter, I wanted to see more of Ciottolina’s work, and started talking to her about exhibiting her sculptures. When I was asked to fill-in at short notice with an installation at LEA after an artist had been forced to drop out due to illness, I could think of no-one more with whom I wanted to share the space – and thankfully, she accepted, adding incredible depth to my garden / house / 2D art exhibition.

Since that time, Ciottolina has gone from strength to strength,  exhibiting her work at galleries and events across SL, often folding into her work social and political commentary that is often powerful and evocative, as well as producing many lighter pieces that can be enjoyed in any environment (we have a number of her pieces that always form a part of our gardens wherever we set-up home).

Officially opening on November 14th, but currently available for people to enjoy is one of her smaller exhibitions, Of  Bots and Blossoms, that is taking place at The 22 Art Space in Bellisseria.  This is another boutique gallery that offers an alternative use for Linden Homes within the Bellisseria continent, and is curated by Rico Saenz and Randy Firebrand.  It is a setting that is ideally suited to Ciottolina’s work, offering two environments – indoors and garden – in which to display the two parts of her exhibition.

The Blossoms aspect of the exhibition is to be found, appropriately enough, in the garden – which is where I’d recommend a visit starts. There, scattered across the lawn are a series of sculpted rose blossoms in which can be found scenes evoking all the joys of birth and the raising of babies and very young children. Playfully and light, the five pieces on display share the garden with one of her thematic pieces Hope, which is a quite magnificent invocation of that emotion, and of love and protective caring.

The latter piece is overlooked by the first element of the Bots part of the exhibition: a quintet of little robots (which, for no Earthly reason I could fathom other than perhaps the sense of mischief they have about them, put me in mind of Despicable Me’s Minions), sitting on the porch roof.

The open door below them invites visitors into the house, where more of these charming automatons can be found appreciating art, reading the news paper, having a conversation with a most unusual fish and perhaps at risk of getting a little carried away with interior decorating (painting the walls is one thing, but it looks as if someone is considering whether the sofa also needs a lick of fresh colour!). With a vignette in each room, this is again a delightful presentation of Ciottolina’s work, while indoors and out, the two elements – blossoms and bots – work well together as a complete exhibit.

Open through until February 14th, 2021, Of Bots and Blossoms is an engaging and delightful visit.

SLurl Details

• The 22 Art Space in Bellisseria (Grenouille, rated Moderate)