Category: Reviews

Fractal 397 (Wrecks, 2016) by Gem Preiz, on Flickr

I’ve been an admirer of Gem Preiz’s fractal art ever since I first encountered it several years ago on my travels as a reviewer of art in Second Life.

This year, 2017, marks the fifth anniversary of Gem’s first exhibitions in Second Life, and he has been marking the with two retrospectives. The first, A Retrospective, was held at the start of the year, and you can read about it here. The second, appropriately called Five Years of Fractals, opened in September 2017, and you can read about it here.

To help celebrate this anniversary – and the fact that Gem himself is fast approaching his 10th anniversary in SL -, I had the opportunity to sit down with him in late September 2017 and discuss his work with him on behalf of Kultivate Magazine. It was a fascinating opportunity to learn about his arrival in Second Life, his art, his interests and inspirations. If I say so myself, the interview is well worth taking the time to read simply because Gem does have so much to say that is worth reading; this being the case, I thought I’d help whet appetites by offering a few excerpts from our chat.

No Frontiers 10 by Gem Preiz (2017)

On Second Life and The Potential for Artistic Expression

I actually discovered Second Life in 2007 while on a trip to America. I was actually there to study new technologies for use in business, but discovered a world with wonderful personal opportunities in this social and playful virtual world.

My awareness of the potential for sharing creations coincided with a growing interest in digital imagery. In particular, I discovered two artists – Fiona Leitner and Milly Sharple … Seeing Milly’s work helped me see the possibilities for displaying my own art within Second Life, and in reaching an audience from around the world while also having the freedom to create exhibition spaces which would be impossible in the physical world.

On His Passion for Fractals

I have a science and maths-focused education and have always worked with technology. Because of this, the computer naturally became my paint brush.

Some of my passions include ecology, Earth sciences, and humanity’s relationship and place in Nature. Astronomy and cosmology particularly bring together my fascination with science with my own imagination and fascination for the human capacity to imagine, discover, explore and learn. All of these play a role in my creative expression and imaginings.

… Fractals allow me to create – to paint, if you will … with such a diversity of results … In addition, the underlying mathematical aspect make them welcome to my rational, scientific side.

Fractal 296 (Polychronies, 2014) by Gem Preiz, on Flickr

On Science and Science Fiction

We are the ultimate product of life on this planet. We have been granted a brain which allows us to understand and influence our environment. At the same time, we question what is our purpose as a species …

Science, in its broadest sense, is the means by which we do so, through exploration, analysis, deduction, questioning and reason … We have it in us to resolve all of society’s issues – health, wealth, the environment – if only we are willing … I have a passion for science and a concern for the environment. We need both to secure our future – if we are to have a future.

Thus, Fractals and digital art are a means for Gem to express all of this to an audience, while at the same time giving flight to his creative narrative through both his visual art and the written word – as narrative forms a strong element in his pieces. Sometimes this may be obvious, such as a story running within one of his exhibitions, as with Heritage: Wrecks reviewed here) or it may be subtle: a story suggested by and introduction to his images, but which is left to the visitor’s imagination to flesh out.

Through the interview, we were able to explore these ideas at some length, delving into just how some of his more recent exhibits came into being. We also explored his unique approach to reproducing his work in Second Life, as well as his ruminations on the platform as someone who has been a part of it now for almost a decade.

Gem is a genuinely warm, caring individual, and it was both a privilege and pleasure to chat to him for Kultivate. You can read the full interview in the October edition of the magazine, beautifully illustrated by images from Gem’s work selected directly from his library, which he kindly opened up to us to peruse in preparing the piece.

Click the magazine cover on the right to open it for reading in a new browser tab. You can also catch up on all of my reviews of his work in these pages through a dedicated blog tag.

The Galleries, curated by Ernie Farstrider is a complex of four interconnected gallery buildings, each of two floors, located on a floating sky island. It is a place where those wishing to explore a broader (and no pun intended) canvas of art available for display and purchase is Second Life can wander among the works of 32 Second Life artists, who work encompasses pieces created within the platform and pieces they have produced in the physical word for upload to SL, with both 2D and 3D art represented among them.

Each of the four buildings is in turn divided into 8  exhibition spaces, four on each level. Eternal ramps and paths link the two levels across all four buildings, offering visitors a variety of paths through the halls and exhibitions. This means one can enjoy moving from the wide range of styles on display quite freely, with each hall and display visited often standing in strong contrast to the last, keeping one’s attention honed.

At the time of my visit, The Galleries was hosting work by the likes of Xirana Oximoxi, Freyja Merryman, Kitty Mills, Anna Anton Raymaker,Graham Collinson (always a delight to see his work), Kicca Igaly, Kayly Iali (with more of her physical world paintings that delight the eye), Theda Tammas, Janine Portal (of whom more anon), Louly Loon, Collin Key, Ini Inaka, Moewe Winkler, and more. To anyone familiar with SL Art, these names alone should help signify the rich mix of art and styles on display.

As noted above, there are a number of artists  exhibiting at the Gallery whose work I always enjoy seeing. However, a new name to me on my visit was that of Janine Portal. I’m not entirely sure how I’ve missed her work up until now, but I can say – and with due respect to all of the other artists exhibiting at The Galleries – it kept drawing me back to it.

Romanced presents seven images which, in the worlds of the artist:

Speak to the issues of having relationships, specifically digitally aided or enhanced relationships, in this technological era.

While our romantic feelings and basic notions are no different from our ancestors’ were, and our emotional and irrational natures are still as mysterious as alchemical processes, we soldier on, finding intimacy in ever more distant and technologically enhanced ways.

Each of her pieces plays on a classic image and adds a “digital signature”, so to speak, to it. This may take the form of a scrolling element, such as numbers or text; or it might be the addition of formulae or precise lines and curves, or perhaps the embedding of circuit board elements and similar. In doing so each offers a unique perspective on the art, encouraging a closer, more considered look.  It is, in a word, entrancing.

From avatar studies to abstract, fractals to landscape, real life to Second Life, The Galleries makes for an engaging and enjoyable visit.

SLurl Details

• The Galleries, (Georgiana, rated: Moderate)

After a short hiatus from Second Life, Sorcha Tyles has re-opened her gallery Artful Expressions at a new location and with a new design – and a new exhibition.

The gallery now sits within a charming garden setting, with a beach at one end, a terrace sitting between sand and gallery, offering a cosy, open-air hang-out which encourages visitors to sit a while and enjoy the Sun  … and a little coffee.

A single display hall is offered inside the gallery building, presenting space for exhibitions by individual artists. For October, Sorcha is featuring the work of Zedekiah, (ZaynIanLutz). And if there is one word which should be used to describe his work, it is perhaps “atmospheric”.

This is an artist with an eye for conveying a mood, a story, a world, within a single frame. Whether producing a landscape or an avatar study, there is a sensitivity and richness to his work that draws one in. Of the eight images presented here, four sway towards monochrome in tone and style, the remaining four offering muted tones and colours. In both cases, whether purely or predominantly monochrome, or when using a broader palette of colour, a rich sense of mood is evoked. So much so, that within the avatar studies particularly, we are – often without clearly being about the see any expression on the face – able to feel the emotion being expressed.

Only two of the images do not feature an avatar, either as their focus or as a part of the overall scene: Winter Trace and September. Both of these are equally as evocative, with the near-monochrome look of Winter Trace drawing one into a feeling of a cold, dark night – one perhaps with a little hint of menace in the way the shadows seem to be gathering the house into themselves, without even a hint of light from the windows to offer cheer or welcome. Thus, within it, there is perhaps the echo of a thought, we are home, but are we safe?

September, seen below right, by contrast, perfectly reflects the fading of summer and the gathering folds of winter. There is still sunlight enough in the sky to feel warmth, the trees still carry their leaves and the grass is still heavy with seed. But the soft colours, the billowing clouds and the icy edge of the blue sky warn us that winter is indeed coming.

A superb exhibition from an outstanding artist, not to be missed.

SLurl Details

• Artful Expressions Gallery (Niaoupolis, rated: Adult)