Tag: Joaannna

Kitten’s Artistic Gothic Tales in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kondor Art Centre, November 2024: Kitten – Gothic

I’ve had the pleasure of writing about the art of Kitten (Joaannna) since 2022, and have never ceased to be stunned by her artistic ability when it comes to Second Life photography. Her work spans both landscape and avatar studies, with the former as engaging and rich as those of another Second Life landscape photographer I have long admired, Ziki Questi. Kitten’s avatar studies are equally as rich and evocative – and also contain that element I always enjoy with such pieces: the telling of, or hinting to, a story that reaches well beyond the framing of the subject.

I first encountered the latter during Kitten’s 2022 exhibition Nior, at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (which also hosted Kitten’s Fourth Wall in 2023), and also through the like of Tales from the Wastelands, also in 2023.

Now Kitten has a further avatar-centric exhibition available for viewing. Hosted at the Kondor Art Centre, operated and curated by Hermes Kondor, Gothic present sixteen black-and-white images which carry with them strong Gothic / Victorian themes, and which touch on horror, mystery and a touch of literature.

Kondor Art Centre, November 2024: Kitten – Gothic

I’ve no idea if thoughts of Halloween  – the exhibition opened on October 31st – sparked the idea for this collection of works, but the fact is that whether it did or not really doesn’t matter; these are pieces for all seasons, and which carry with them a richness of narrative that draws one into them.

Some might overtly put one in mind of classic literature, whilst others do so perhaps in a more subtle manner. Spectral Hound is perhaps the most obvious among the former, bringing forth as it does thoughts of Conan Doyle’s classic tale of The Hound of the Baskervilles, set within the Victorian era; whilst We Have Always Lived In a Castle and Gargoyle might act on that more subtle level, perhaps leading one to thoughts of Bram Stoker and Dracula.

Kondor Art Centre, November 2024: Kitten – Gothic

However, the truth is, each of these 16 pieces stands in is own right as a prompter for the imagination. No reference of literature is really required; only the ability to view each in turn and allow it to speak as the eyes travel over its detail, the words of the tale it wishes to tell evident in the pose and poise of the central character (Kitten herself) and the response to her by everything around her- animate and inanimate.

And I do mean response; setting and character in each image are deeply intertwined, rather than one being the backdrop for the other, as might be the case with a portrait; everything has to be considered as a whole. As to what the stories themselves might be is a matter for Kitten’s images and your imagination; I’ve said more than enough here – other than, as ever, Kitten’s art continues to engaging and enthral –  and I will leave it to you to visit and see what the art says to you.

Kondor Art Centre, November 2024: Kitten – Gothic

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A Kitten in The Wastelands of Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Artsville Galleries, December 2023 – Kitten: Tales from the Wastelands

Update, January 15th, 2025: Artsville has relocated.

It shames me to think that despite us both having been active in Second Life for over a decade and a half, and given the fact I have visited on a number of occasions, I’ve yet to actually write about The Wastelands.

I have no excuse to offer on this, nor would I insult NeoBokrug Elytis, the community’s founder and curator, in trying to do so; the most I can offer is an apology to him and the community as a whole for not as yet having made the effort to blog about their work, and to offer here views of The Wastelands as seen through the eyes of another traveller (and more particularly – artist), whose meanderings through the 12 regions that make up this post-apocalyptic setting form an end-of-2023 exhibition at Frank Atisso’s Artsville Galleries.

Kitten (Joaannna Resident) is a Second Life artist-photographer whose landscape work I first encountered in 2022, although it wasn’t until later in that year that I blogged about it after catching Noir, a series of avatar-centric studies in celebration of the film noir genre both in terms of her approach to the pieces and the tone in which they were presented, and the fact that they offered an unfolding tale much in keeping with the genre (see A Kitten’s Noir World in Second Life).

Artsville Galleries, December 2023 – Kitten: Tales from the Wastelands

Within Tales from the Wastelands (presented in Gallery 3 at Artsville) Kitten once again takes this approach; starting with an introduction in her own words to both the exhibition and the setting (complete with a landmark giver for those wishing to make their own foray through The Wastelands), this is a series of 10 images which carry us through various aspects of the regions in a manner of a non-linear story.

Which is not to say this selection is in any way derivative of Kitten’s earlier work; it is not; within Noir the story was ever-present within each image, if open to interpretation as to what it might be. Tales, by contrast offers moments from a traveller’s story; scenes which are not quite vignettes, but which offer enough within themselves for our imaginations to paint a unique story around each one. As such, they can be shuffled together howsoever we prefer when viewing them, each scene / story standing in its own right as a complete piece – but at the same time, as freely shuffled as they might be, the 10 scenes remain joined through a subtle sense of narrative in that each represents a chapter in a broader story.

Artsville Galleries, December 2023 – Kitten: Tales from the Wastelands

Predominantly presented in Kitten’s trademark panoramic style, the 10 images are a tour de force not only in her ability to capture a story-in-a-frame, but also in her skill as a compositional artist; the framing of each piece is both natural and cropped to perfection; the use of both colour and black and white images demonstrating a measured and skilled ability to evoke feelings and emotions. The use of angle, depth of field and focus both masterfully drawing us into the scenes and stories as if we are in fact part of them whilst we remain separated by the fourth wall of the camera lens; thus a further sensation is invoked within us: the desire to follow in her footsteps and see this world of anarchy and danger, beauty and hope, for ourselves.

Through the fourth wall at Nitroglobus in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, July 2023: Kitten – Fourth Wall

July 2023’s exhibition at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, operated and curated by Dido Haas, sees the return of Kitten (Joaannna), who this time brings her engaging monochrome photography, complete with a considered touch of depth of field to the gallery’s main hall, having previously appeared within the Annex (see: A Kitten’s Noir world in Second Life)

Fourth Wall is a considered study on the nuances of this artificial construct of the stage (and which might be seen to extend into the world of photography in a considered manner), and how that wall might be broken.

Within stagecraft, the term fourth wall refers to the convention by which actors focus their attention primarily on the dramatic world they inhabit, regardless of the presence of the audience (in what  Konstantin Stanislavski called “public solitude”), as if an imaginary wall lies between the, preventing the audience from being seen. At the same time, that wall can be breached in both a subtle manner and also very directly.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, July 2023: Kitten – Fourth Wall

In modern times, the latter is most obviously seen where a performer clearly and directly addresses their audience. however, the more subtle breaching has always been present on within stage performances: whilst the physical presence of the audience might well be ignored, their energy and reaction to what they are seeing is not; instead, that energy and response is used by those on stage to inform and modulate their performance, even though they might never directly break the fourth wall.

With Fourth Wall, Kitten takes as her foundation the idea of a photoshoot. This style of photography folds within it a kind of fourth wall of its own; the models and set exist very separately to the viewing audience, yet they are connected by the presence of the camera itself. Thus, that imaginary wall can be breached both through subtleness and by direct engagement: the former by the fact the mere presence of the camera represents a pseudo-audience, one the models can use to imagine the responsive energy of any actual audience to their time and effort, using it to further inform and modulate their performance. At the same time, they can opt to directly breach the divide, simply be looking the camera in the lens and / or adopting a pose suggesting they are directly addressing who might be on the other side of the image.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, July 2023: Kitten – Fourth Wall

By mixing the poses and the “between takes” images, Kitten blends both ways in which the fourth wall is broken – but in doing so, she also leaves us with a conundrum to explore: how much of the breaching is intentional and how much of it is “accidental” (to use Kitten’s term) – the more subtle playing of (and with) the observer’s unseen presence and how it might be influence the model’s behaviour?

However, as Kitten notes herself, there is also a wider context and questioning here, one directed towards Second Life as a whole. As she notes, SL is, when all is said and done, an artificial environment. Yes, it is immersive and allows us to adopt role / personas. But it also allows us to breach the separating wall of the screen if we so wish – but how much more might we reveal more subtly? And what does this say about our relationship / understanding of this environment?

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, July 2023: Kitten – Fourth Wall

Rounded out by a new lighting set by Adwehe, Fourth Wall is rich in visual content and in the expression of ideas and questions.

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Erotic Art in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Heartsong Erotica Galleries
Note: as the title of this piece – and the gallery – should reveal, the art on display at Heartsong Erotica Galleries is of an erotica / adult nature, in places featuring nudity. As such, the images at the gallery and in this article should be treated as NSFW. 

Heartsong Erotica Galleries is a venture new to me, and which I believe has only recently opened. Operated by Luanamae Heartsong, it is located on a sky platform and offers four gallery spaces built around an open square displaying 3D art, all of which is defined by the description four galleries dedicated to elegant and sensual erotic art.

Heartsong Erotica Galleries: Kitten (Joaannna Resident)

Erotica in art is not new, and certainly not exclusive to Second Life; however, it is a subject which can draw looks of distaste among some and / or be considered antithetical to Second Life. Yet while the terms “erotica” and “erotic” are most commonly used to define subject matter intended to be found sexually stimulating, it doesn’t necessarily mean either nudity or sexual acts. Just take John William Godward’s The Old, Old, Story (1903) as an example; both characters within it are fully clothed, but the manner in which the woman teases the man through the simple act of dropping flower petals as she regards him was, for the time at which it was painted, charged with eroticism.

And herein lies another truth; as  Honoré de Balzac once noted: eroticism is dependent not just upon an individual’s sexual morality, but also the culture and time in which an individual resides; as such it is not only – as the hoary old quote about beauty goes – in the eye of the beholder, it is also fluid and changing with time.  And it is this latter point which is ably demonstrated within the collections of images offered at Hertsong Erotica Galleries for the current (as of late January 2023) exhibition.

Heartsong Erotica Galleries: Tatiana Easterwood

Within the four galleries are collections by Dante Helios (Gallery One), Tatiana Easterwood (Gallery Two), Emeline Laks (Gallery Three) and Kitten (Joaannna Resident). (Gallery 4). Each offers a different perspective on erotica in art (although there are some overlaps here and there – notably between the images presented by Tatiana Easterwood and Emeline Laks).

Within Kitten’s pieces (some of which have been previously offered through her 2022 Noir exhibition within the Annex of Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (see: A Kitten’s Noir world in Second Life), there is neither nudity nor overt sexuality. What there is, however, is a subtle shading of sensuality imparted in several ways: the classic noir style within several of the images through their use of greyscale to evoke a cinematic era where eroticism and sensuality were more more obliquely referenced (ibncluding through the use of smoking, something also seen in these images); the suggestions of vulnerability through pose and the use of a veil, etc. Thus, within these pieces is a sense of erotica of times past.

Heartsong Erotica Galleries: Dante Helios

Tatiana and Emeline, by contrast, offer what might be considered “erotica of times present”, many of their pieces offering as they do sensual depictions of sexual acts between adult avatars (not that art depicting sexual acts ins confined to modern times – by which I loosely mean post WW II onwards; rather that the public exhibiting of art depicting sexual acts is more broadly tolerated in the west than had been the case during the early 20th century and before).

Within Gallery One, Dante presents images which (for the most part) might be said to reflect another lasting element of erotica: the fetish of clothing and footwear, particularly when applied to the female form. However, it is also perhaps the more discomforting of the four exhibitions, given the manner in which some of the pieces in the left and centre sections of the gallery might be seen as leaning into themes of puberty and sexuality; in this, I admit to finding these latter images personally disquieting.

Heartsong Erotica Galleries: Emeline Laks

Overall, with the exhibits rounded-out by 3D pieces produced by Pit Banx and Phenix Rexen within the square linking the four galleries, Heartsong Erotica Galleries is an interesting new venture for the display of art of a more erotic nature within Second Life.

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A Kitten’s Noir world in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery Annex: Kitten – Noir

Currently open at the annex (formerly Dido Space) at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, curated by Dido Haas, is a small but enticing exhibition entitled Noir by Kitten (Joaannna Resident).

From her Profile, Kitten appears to be something of a newcomer to Second Life – but one who has made a considerable splash both as a writer on the subject of art, and as a photographer-artist. With the latter, she leans towards landscape images, using a more panoramic image ratio (as I also tend to lean towards) than most to produce stunning images of the places she visits – as can be seen within her Flickr stream.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery Annex: Kitten – Noir

However, with Noir, and at Dido’s request to her to push her artistic envelope, Kitten takes a different route: avatar-centric images in celebration of the film noir genre, and here  presents eight images offered monochrome pieces in keeping with the genre’s core thrust, all of them centred on a character who might potentially be considered both the protagonist and the femme fatale as are both found within this classic movies of the 1940s and 1950s.

And I do mean “character”, for rather than offering individual images and scenes, these eight images tend to unfold in the manner of a story – or to further remain in keeping with the theme, as stills lifted from a classic noir movie with some prototypical structures of classic crime and mystery stories. This unfolding narrative arc is given further depth through the fact that none of the images have been staged in terms of purpose-built sets and backgrounds; instead that have been captured – as the exhibition’s credits note – within some of Second Life’s more well-known locations. Combined with Kitten’s eye for angle, focus and composition, this gives each picture a depth that draws us into it.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery Annex: Kitten – Noir

Compositionally, these are pieces that are structured to reflect the filmic aspects of film noir; the foundational minimalist look of German Expressiveness, the low-lighting and unbalanced nature in framing. Narratively speaking, five of the images allow us to witness a mysterious woman making her way by night through a darkened city; where she might be going and what purpose she may have remains unknown – although there are subtle clues contained within two more of the images that may help nudge the imagination.

In one, for example, we witness our heroine seated outside Berlin’s Café Kranzler, a location that – given the Noir theme – suggestions the Cold War, political intrigue and espionage. Within another we see her moving by torch light through a museum, the scene suggesting an illicit act – but is it simple theft, or a further twist on the idea of espionage? Note, as a well within this image what might be a nod towards both another era and genre of classic Hollywood movie-making.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery Annex: Kitten – Noir

Then, within the remaining image, we get a change in perspective, with a reflective umbrella and a spotlight play as much a role as our model. Through it brings a further suggestion of film sets and the magic of film, whilst also bringing to mind a particular noir / black comedy classic with its closing words uttered by Norma Desmond…

Richly engaging – one can forgive the slightly repetitive element of shots of the woman walking because Kitten’s framing and composition is so beautifully structured – Noir is a deceptively captivating series.

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