Open now at Kayly Iali’s Gallery 24 is an exhibition of work by French artist Ieko Catnap, who presents some 29 pieces of her physical world art uploaded to Second Life.
“I’m a lyrical abstract oil painter,” Ieko says of herself, “working in traditional mediums, although sometimes I include interesting materials such as silk, paper, light wood, fibres, human and dog hairs.”
Lyrical abstraction tends to cover two distinct, but related post-war modernist art trends. Given her background and training, it’s probably fair to say that Ieko leans towards the European (and French-founded) Abstraction Lyrique. The premise of the art is that it is “lyrical” – expressing the artist’s emotions; or perhaps more precisely, their emotional outlook and a desire to >communicate concepts, thoughts, ideas, and emotions abstractly, and often in a primal way – hence the tones and colours often found within the paintings.
The pieces displayed at Gallery 24 beautifully reflect the rich diversity of the movemen. Some of them have a definite, primal feel to them – notably those on the mid level of the gallery alongside the stairs to the upper floor. Others are more lyrical / spiritual in form and tone. “Everything around me – music, books, news, inspires my art,” Ieko says of her work, “I try to share my reactions with the audience.”
Having trained as a graphics designer in the 1970s, Ieko worked in that mean for almost two decades, before studying at the CEPAGRAP art school in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, fulfilling a lifelong ambition to be an artist.
Abstract art may not be to everyone’s liking. However, this is an exhibition I would recommend. Lyrical abstraction has a unique range of voices, and Ieko Catnap is well versed in all of them, as she so ably demonstrates at Gallery 24.
Friday, May 6th saw the third in the Lab Chat series take place in-world, featuring guests Oz Linden, the Director of Second Life Engineering, Troy Linden, a Senior Producer of Second Life and of course, Linden Lab CEO, Ebbe Altberg, in his alter-ego of Ebbe Linden.
The session focused on a mix of questions submitted to an official forum thread ahead of the event, and questions taken directly from the audience, and this transcripts offers a breakdown of the questions asked and answers given.
Please note that in places the audio presented has been edited to remove asides, repetition or removed inaudible elements, and so may differ in length and content to the official recordings made of the session. However, no attempt has been made to alter the content or context of the answers supplied by Ebbe, Oz and Troy.
For ease of reference, the session has been split into two parts, and the following Quick links will take readers to any specific topics of interest to them, and further topics can be navigated to by either returning to this page, or using the Quick Links summaries provided within the Bento / Second Life and Project Sansar pages.
Open now at the DaphneArts Gallery curated by Angelika Corral and SheldonBR, is an ensemble exhibition entitled Imagine, and “focused on promoting a peaceful communication, bringing together some great SL photographers from around the world”.
It features individual pieces by Angelika Corral, Anouk A, Bay Addens, Burk Bode, Good Cross, Hills, Io Bechir, Isa Messioptra, Jammie Hill, Joslyn Benson, Maloe Vansant, miu miu miu, MM (mysterr), Paola Mills, Senna Coronet, Tutsy Navarathna, and Zib Scaggs.
“The metaverse Second Life is a community that, in its own unique way, resembles the dream which was eloquently presented by the English songwriter and performer John Lennon in his song Imagine, (1971).” the curators explain in the notes accompanying the exhibition. “By this, Lennon, shared his dream of a world without borderlines, where people could live in a brotherhood of man, with noting to live or to die for…”
Using the song as a point of inspiration, the artists were asked to share their visions as dreamers. The result is a series of images which are incredibly diverse in approach and content – but at the same time, incredibly emotive and powerful. Some of them take the title “Imagine” itself as a starting point, while others use lines or phrases from the song’s lyrics, while others present titles unique to themselves, all of which again reflect the rich diversity of thought and feelings expressed.
Given all of the images in the exhibit do demonstrate some amazing talent, it is perhaps unfair to single out one our two for specific mention. Nevertheless, I have to admit to finding myself utterly captivated by Isa Messioptra’s Above Us Only Sky, seen on the left of the topmost image in this article, and also to Burk Bode’s Imagine John Comes Around The Corner in SL, seen directly above, left.
Also accessible via teleport in the foyer area of the gallery, is the Atelier studio featuring Angelika’s and SheldonB’s own art, which again I cannot recommend highly enough.
Congratulations to Angelika and SheldonBR on yet another stunning exhibition.
Rosemoor is the name of a collaborative region design by Arol Lightfoot and Krys Vita (who designed the popular Kaleidoscope I wrote about here). “This one was meant to be fun!” Krys told me as Caitlyn and I paid a visit a few hours after the region had opened its doors slightly ahead of schedule, “welcome to our zoo 😛 .”
Rosemoor presents visitors with a low-lying island of grass and sands, just a couple of craggy plateaus offering genuine elevation in the south-west corner. The “zoo” Krys mentioned as we chatted, sits to the north-west, close to the landing point. It takes the form of Everlag Park – a place which has clearly seen better days at some point. Now the paint is fading, dirty and chipped on the entrance, the sign having partially fallen from its place above the archway, while the buildings either side showing similar distress.
Within the park, the carousel and big wheel stand broken and dejected, while the bumper cars look to have been the victims of a fire, while rides sit overgrown and forgotten in the grounds. Only the circus tent appears to be in reasonable condition, but even this fails to hold the attention for long, thanks to the animals standing and roaming the park – or as I put it to Krys, “tigers and zebras and giraffes, oh my!”
“Ha ha!” Krys replied, “the craziest thing is in the other corner 😉 Our little addiction found itself a home!”
To the south and east, around and across the bay cutting into the island, the land is sandier and offers a couple of homes between which horses contentedly wander, grazing on the stubble of grass poking above the gently undulating dunes and hills of sand. Those which are roaming freely and saddled can be ridden by visitors.
And it was southwards and eastward that I was drawn, wondering what the addiction Krys mentioned might be. It can actually be found on a little island just off the coast. I’m saying nothing else on this, as to write about it would spoil a visit for others 🙂 . All I will do is repeat Krys’ explanation for things: “D-Lab… the gacha got us! 😉 ”
With places to sit and to snuggle scattered around, particularly along the coastline, Rosemoor has a wonderfully coastal feel to it; somewhere perhaps not too far from civilisation, but far enough to offer a sense of isolation and being off the beaten track (hence why the Everlag Park may not have succeeded, despite the picturesque surroundings).
The default windlight suggests an early morning, but the region is ideal for photography under many different environment settings, as I hope the images here demonstrate. Very thoroughly recommended as a place to visit!
The May ensemble exhibition in the Holly Kai Art at the Park series commences on Saturday, May 7th, 2016, and runs through until Saturday, June 11th.
For this exhibition, we are both pleased and privileged to be featuring the work of Ceakay Ballyhoo, Eleseren Brianna, JudiLynn India, Lantana Silverweb, Slatan Dryke and SisterButta.
The exhibition will open with a special gala event at the Holly Kai Pavilion, which will also mark the end of Silas Merlin’s marvellous Mirrored Garden exhibition at Holly Kai Garden – see below for more details.
About the Artists
CK (Ceakay Ballyhoo)
CK Ballyhoo has been roaming SL in search of wonderful landscapes and interesting buildings to capture and use to make her art. She has also discovered the joy of background studios and is still learning new things every day, often through inspiration by other artists.
Her style can be best described as capturing moods. Feel yourself drawn into the landscapes of her pictures. See the emotion and character traits expressed in the people she portrays. It’s a dreamy world most of the time. Unclear lines, blurry, warm colours. Sometimes darker and gloomier.
There are often series. Sometimes around a theme, sometimes different takes of one scene, because she can’t decide which one she likes best and likes to give them time to grow on her.
Eleseren Brianna
Trained as an illustrator in the physical world, Eleseren Brianna is perhaps best known as a fashion and couture model in Second Life, so her photographic work is understandably focused in that direction, but certainly not limited to fashion shots. Holly Kai will be her sixth major exhibition in Second Life, where she has only recently entered the art world, although , she has previously exhibited her work at Dreanz and Visionz in Inworldz.
The pieces she offers at the Park are placed under the title of “Myths”, which she describes thus:
I wanted to create mysterious and dreamlike images, that call upon the universal archetypes that Jung said lie tangled within the roots of our Collective Unconscious. These images do not try to explain, or define what is going on in them..they are left mysterious, open-ended, ready for the viewer to spin their own story onto.
JudiLynn India
JudiLynn is an established artist in the physical world who states she has been drawing since she could first hold a crayon. Since then she has pursued art both academically and physically, and since the turn of the millennium has focused on acrylic and digital painting.
JudiLynn says of her work:
My work embodies my spirit and personality. My goal is to allow you to experience the image with your own mind’s eye. My work is entirely intuitive. I get lost in the layering of texture and colour. Occasionally, I will include figurative work if my spirit is so presented with the composition. Just as there is order in the chaos of the universe, the energy within me is brought into focus one canvas at a time.
Lantana Silverweb
Lantana Is another person who is new to the world of art in Second Life, but who is deservedly gaining a reputation for the outstanding images she produces. Describing herself as inspired by the work of other SL artists, Lantana has developed her skill and eye very much through a “learn by doing” process, which has led her into experimentation and a natural approach to her avatar studies. ” I don’t use photo poses but rather have the model use their AO and take the photos as they move around,” she says.
Her entry into SL art came – appropriately enough – as a result of a visit to Nitroglobus Gallery. “I sent some of the better ones to the owner who invited me to put them on their Flickr page. I didn’t know much about Flickr, but when I saw it realised I had somewhere to post my photos so that others could see them.” And from there things grew.
For her work, Lantana focus on the feeling each image evokes in her. “I work on them until I touch the darkness,” she says, before going on to express her preference for avatar studies. “I prefer to make images of people rather than landscapes and do my shoots on location although there have been a few occasions where I have built sets.”
As she gains experience, so she is looking to experiment further, noting she’s working with every more elaborate pieces in an attempt to move away from purely 2D art and more into 3D work, and taking advantage of the physics SL offers.
Slatan Dryke
Slatan Dryke loves art in all its forms, and while he may well be a photographer in the physical world, he regards painting and sculpture as being closest to his heart, and he works in both mediums here in Second Life, as the pieces he has opted to show at Holly Kai Park demonstrate.
A wanderer by nature, he enjoys nothing more than exploring the grid, finding new pockets of beauty for his pictures, thanks to the creativity and imagination of fellow residents, where his physical world knowledge of photography greatly informs his framing, windlight selection, image ratio, etc., such that he rarely post-processes his work.
As a sculptor, Slatan surprisingly claims to have limited skills with in-world building. However, his works – which focus on the abstract – demonstrate a talent for colour, motion, and composition, and show a skilled level of prim manipulation.
For Holly Kai, Slatan is present his 2D art on one of the art decks in the hill-top gallery area, was well as a number of his sculptures scattered through the art exhibition area.
SisterButta
A professional writer, SisterButta, also known as Trolley Trollop, sees Second Life as a means to explore narrative techniques and means to create new “story-making” possibilities to create interactive and immersive environments to convey information in non-traditional ways.
A life-long denizen of on-line communities dating back to early 1980s, SisterButta is a noted performer and voice artist is Second Life, and has been active in the promotion of arts through the likes of Seanchai Library and the Decades festival, which focuses on historical role-play in Second Life. She has also, with building partner Robijn Resident, created an installation covering the first 200 years of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), which was displayed at Rocca Sorrentina.
More recently, SisterButta and Robijn created Wound Angels, an interactive exhibit honouring breast cancer sufferers through the ages, as seen through the eyes of some of history’s greatest artists, and which was first shown at the RFL 2016 Home and Garden exhibition. We are very honoured to have it reproduced at Holly Kai Park.
Opening Event
The new Art at the Park exhibition will officially open at 4:00pm SLT on Saturday, May 7th, with several of our artists on hand. The event will also mark the closing of the excellent Mirrored Garden exhibition by Silas Merlin at Holly Kai Garden, which you can read about here.
As always, the opening event will take place at the Holly Kai Pavilion, which can be reached via the bridge from the main Holly Kai Landing point, and which also connects with Holly Kai Garden, allowing attending to also visit Mirrored Garden.
Our friend Joaquin Gustav will be providing the music for the opening, and we very much hope you will join us, and either tour the park and garden ahead of the opening, or spend time exploring following Joaquin’s set. Formal attire is requested.
Playa Flamingo is a beautifully landscaped Homestead region designed by Marcus (Marcus68), which Caitlyn and I have dropped into a couple of times and been fascinated by its mix of picturesque landscaping and touches of whimsy.
Those familiar with the term “playa” might be expecting a desert-like environment, perhaps with a little water covering it; or maybe a beach-type location in keeping with the region’s physical world namesake in Costa Rica. Instead, what visitors find is a perfect island environment which packs an incredible about into it without ever once feeling crowded or overdone.
Visitors arrive in a small business area on the westward side of the island, a comfortable gathering of business premises gathered along a cobbled road and around a fountain. Bounded to the south by one of the broad bays cutting into the land, and to the west by the local beach, this offers two routes by which the rest of the island can be explored: north and east.
North takes you, by way of a large walled square, to the local railway line pointing the way eastwards. The first touch of whimsy is to be found here: a trio of Iakua Arriga’s little animals whiling away the time sitting at the side of the track. Follow the latter eastwards and it’ll take you past some old bungalows before turning inland and coming to an abrupt end above the shoreline of the island’s major inlet.
A bridge spans the neck of the inlet to reach the east side, the headland there occupied by private property. However, the track beyond the bridge turns south, offering visitors the opportunity to wander down to a farm sitting on the south-eastern headland. This is overlooked by the Cyclopean eye of a lighthouse sitting on a rugged island to the south, and reach by taking the eastward exit from the arrival point.
This route will take you, by way of a trailer park with just one occupant, down past the steps of waterfalls tumbling from the rocky heart of the region, to the bank of the channel separating the islands, spanned by a bridge made from the trunks of two ancient trees, locked together as if shaking hands across the water.
Here lies another touch of whimsy: large teacups sit on their saucers, floating on the misty water, offering visitors a place to sit and relax. Across the bridge, the steps up to the lighthouse take visitors past three tall turbines looking for all the world like giant children’s windmills, their sticks plunged into the ground. Just a little further around the curve of the channel, in the bay behind the landing point, sits a little gathering of rowing boats, some of which offer further places to sit and rest, huddled around an old fishing pier.
Playa Flamingo is another delight to explore and photograph, completed by a delicate ambient sound scape which further presents the region as a haven of tranquillity. Caught in a forever sunset, the region lends itself to almost any windlight setting you might happen to like, and it’s hard to find a camera angle which doesn’t lend itself to a snap or two. Should you enjoy your visit, please considered showing your appreciation by leaving a donation at the piggy bank by the landing point..
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 