On 09/14/2018 Adwehe joined the Second Life community.
Adwehe believes that she would not function well without art. Perceiving the works of others and creating things herself are essential for her.
She gets her inspiration from moments that move her deep inside, from interaction with others, or from her dreams, colors, nature, people or from the (virtual) exhibits. For Adwehe every medium that is available to her, be it (contemporary) art history or music as well as the magic of the moment are very inspiring.
Her work is about perpetual change, transformation, (in)stability, chaos, light, color, movement, slowness and different perspectives.
Strongly interested in functions of Second Life that works as a permanent platform, and where every single interaction is irreversible, there she finds the concept of time as very important.
As she said, she had dreamed of moving in her RL drawings, and for her SL is the perfect platform to realize this dream. In doing so, she is in constant exploration an ever changing drawing with lines, light and dark, color and whatever she can find to express herself.
Adwehe usually works on several projects at once, experimenting and creating things in the world and then taking them out again to rework them in reality, using and combining traditional and digital workflows.
With the mantra: “Be passionate and persistent, be yourself” and driven by the desire to be on a creative journey and express her feelings with the language of art and always with the desire to experience and learn new things, she pursues her great passion, thinking in big dimensions to realize her ideas.
I have known Adwehe for some time and I always experience her as a warm but also very reserved person. She always seems to be busy with the topics that bring her further in her artistic expression.
As a person she is someone who never puts herself in the foreground, someone who would not easily show her inner self to the outside…. and yet when she allows us to get a little closer, we find rich feelings and thoughts, emotions and ideas that inspire us and lead us into a strong emotional connection with her.
For me, her soul is reflected in her works, there I find versatility, clarity, sometimes chaos, often colorful and warm currents, shapes and lines that show a strong opinion, shadows and light that point to the amount of experiences.
I feel our friendship as a gift and I am very grateful for this wonderful interview dear, Adwehe.
Adwehe: I don’t think I would function very well as a person, perceiving the works of others and creating things myself is essential to me. I probably would be dreaming a lot more then I do now if there was no art in my life.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Adwehe: This can be from almost everywhere and anything, physical or non-physical, a moment, an interaction, a thought or dream, colors, nature, people, worlds, (virtual) exhibits, just any medium available to me, of course (contemporary) art history, and always music. There are many creative people in SL and the magic of the moment can be so inspiring as well.
What is your work about?
Adwehe: Everlasting change, transformation, (in)stability, chaos, light, color, movement, slowness, different ways looking. The way SL works as a persistent platform where every single interaction is irreversible like in the real world interests me and in this way the concept of time is important to me. I have always fantasized really walking inside my RL drawings, like in a dream. SL is the perfect platform to realize this dream. I explore an ever changing drawing using lines, light and darkness, color and whatever I can find to express myself.
How is the artistic process like there? Do you see an object / person / landscape first and then the idea comes up? Or is it upside down?
Adwehe: Its both ways and its a pretty chaotic process, I am mostly working on multiple projects at the same time discovering a lot about the possibilities of SL. Experimenting to create things inworld and take them out again to rework them in RL combining traditional and digital work flows and vise versa. Sometimes I have a plan in advance, many times I just start something and see if it interests me enough, try to find something I can connect to, sometimes ending up where I never thought I would. Recycling and using older works helps to create a dialog.
Your mantra?
Adwehe: Be passionate and persistent, be yourself.
Currently, the best place for you in SL?
Adwehe: There are so many beautiful places to visit and explore in SL and Sims disappear and (re)emerge all the time, after that the best place for me is home sweet home, where I work and hang out with my friends.
A question that moves you right now …
Adwehe: I have been doing a lot of exploration on different forms of expression and the possibilities of SL and RL work flows both digital and analog and how they can be mixed lately. I am looking for ways to unify those more now, to take some time to bring all together in a more coherent way. To give an example, the first immersive installation called ‘Lucid Dreams’ I made almost a year ago was in a 64m by 64m cube at Vegetal Planet Gallery which is still there at present, this was a big challenge for me because of the size and my experience with that was limited. I managed to use many different elements like photography, sculpture, scripting, sound design, color, light and animation. So I want to focus more on immersive though I will keep painting.
Campbell Coast Artist Village – Crops in Black and White – Adwehe
Is there a work of art in your life that particularly impressed you?
Adwehe: I can’t answer that with just one work in mind. Some of the artists I value very close are Anish Kapoor, Cecily Brown and Mark Rothko. Also I was always fascinated by kinetic and light art.
What is art for you – now completely independent of the usual definitions?
Adwehe: Its like a thermometer of past present and future, a compass of our ways of perceiving and interacting with ourselves, each other and the world.
Was there a key experience or has the artist profession always been your dearest wish?
Adwehe: This has been with me for as long as I can remember.
What drives you?
Adwehe: Being on a journey.
Do you feel understood with your art?
Adwehe: I am not sure about that, sometimes I don’t even understand it myself, every individual person sees in their unique way and I don’t bother thinking about it as being art to much in the first place. Then again when on some level an object or thought moves me or keeps holding my attention for a little while, I am satisfied.
Do you think that you can make a difference with your art?
Adwehe: Probably not, still art is a very subjective experience. Some people said they could feel completely and wonderfully lost in it, being there in the moment, enjoying the constant changes. So maybe a little.
Do you think that everyone is an artist?
Adwehe: No, but I think most people can, if they are willing to express their relation to the world, the way they see and feel, in something that could be labeled as art.
Do you have any role models? If yes, which?
Adwehe: No.
What does the term art mean to you?
Adwehe: Art is not easy to express in words, although many words have been used to describe it. Maybe every form of art is a language in itself. So one way to describe art could be as a form of play defining and breaking out of its own rules where the rules can be anything.
Are there any topics that you are particularly interested in implementing?
Adwehe: Learn more about how to use mesh sculpture tools and sound design.
What is your strength?
Adwehe: Working with SL light, color, animation, sometimes improvisation.
What was the best advice you have ever received in SL?
Adwehe: Take your idea or idea’s and really stick to them as one singular passion, think big, dig into all aspects to realize that idea.
Your next projects, exhibitions. Where your art can be seen?
Adwehe: ‘Unfold’ by Adwehe and Serra Qendra
I was so very happy to been rewarded a half region art grant at Burn2’s The Great Unknown event this October. Serra Qendra an i have been working on a build titled ‘Unfold’. This place does not tell you where to look, and is much the reflection of a journey starting from sketchy ideas and openness. Rather then to reproduce and illustrate a concept or theory we allowed process and journey to guide us, let mistakes become focal points and respect the things for what they are. Some of the pieces are mistakes, some of them are unfinished. Deliberately unfinished, they represent ‘beginnings’. Although some things are aesthetically pleasing, it’s not meant to do that so very much. All this is, and what we are doing, is being in the moment with an open and playful mind. Maybe that could be an approach to explore a new land, or world. The great unknown, the world we are entering in every second as the clock ticks, and yes you will find your path. Make sure to have sound on to enjoy the Playa desert winds, the random lighting is interactive to play with.
The main event will be from 8 to 17 October. All art builds will remain on the Playa one week after the 17th.
“I have always fantasized really walking inside my RL drawings, like in a dream. SL is the perfect platform to realize this dream. I explore an ever changing drawing using lines, light and darkness, color and whatever I can find to express. Creating depth and perspective expanding the dimensions of the exposition room, mostly abstract and animating.
Experimenting with different art forms in Second Life including painting, light, sound and immersive installations. Still relatively new to Second Life’s vast possibilities, I just love to experiment searching for the mysterious randomness that can occur when working with what’s available in the prim world of second life.
Influences I love are light art and kinetic art, minimalism and color field painting. I mix textures from my traditional RL drawings, acrylic and oil paintings inside and outside of SL to achieve patterns, moods and motions.“
Mareea Farrasco logged into Second Life for the first time on 12/31/2009.
Life without art for her would be like imagining the beauty of nature without the power or gentleness of words.
Mareea finds her inspiration in small, insignificant things or breath-taking landscapes, from the colors of the sky and the water, from other works of art, or from the outside world as well as from her inner universe…
The inspiration awakens for Mareea like an urgent need to express something, without any preparation in advance. Her photography is mostly about the outside world, that can be full of joy, or just gray like a gray day, sometimes even dark, when a black clouds covers her “soul landscape” with fear.
She is very grateful and humble human, thankfully for everything she has and for everything she gets from others and above all she is grateful for everything she can personally give to the world she lives in.
Her home in SL are – Imago Land and Art Galleries, where she lives out her love for decorating, photography and where she opens a spaces for other artists.
Moved by the great artistic values of mankind, as well as countless artists and works of art that have shaped her whole life, she dives into the “rainbow of beauty” whenever she can.
Since childhood she has participated in children’s performances, played the piano and singing and dancing, as well as literature and poetry have had a special place in her life.
With the hope that she can reach the heart or mind of others, and strongly driven by deep love for all the amazing things that surround her both in SL and RL, like nature and culture, she wants to contribute to this beauty *of being*.
I would like to use the word “dulcet” to describe my experience with Mareea.
Her personality always leaves me with a sweet and pleasant feeling.
I always see her acting happily in the background, and I witness someone who appreciates the things she loves and does, with her personality and photographic works she manages to win our hearts and inspire us with an ease.
My heartfelt thanks for our creative and truly art full friendship, dear Mareea.
Mareea: I can’t imagine my SL or RL life without art (not that I’d be a RL artist, I am just a consumer of all kind of arts). Life would be an empty space … no colors, no sounds, no joy. It would be like imagining it without the beauty of the nature or without the power or the softness of the words.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Mareea: I don’t know… From small, insignificant things or from large landscapes, from the colors of the sky and the water, from others art works, from the outside world or from my inner universe… Inspiration comes all of a sudden, like an urgent need to express something, without any preparation in advance.
What is your work about?
Mareea: My photos are mostly about the outside world, but visualized through my mind or through my soul. They can be full of joy, in a sunny day, simply gray, like a gray day, when nothing significant happens, or dark, when a black cloud covers with anxiety my “soulscape”. Sometimes I am telling a story, sometimes my eyes discover an object somewhere, put in a certain light, or a face who asks for a portrait. I have to confess though, I’d like to be able to create amazing portraits, but I never really succeeded to make one. There is always something important missing in them…
How is the artistic process like there? Do you see an object / person / landscape first and then the idea comes up? Or is it upside down?
Mareea: Almost every time I start a project trying to materialize a certain idea, things get crazy, going their own way, forcing me to follow their path, not mine. So I usually just let my momentary inspiration take the lead and then see what happens.
Your mantra?
Mareea: I am not sure I have one. Generally I try to avoid truisms. And no words of wisdom of my own:) The most frequent formula I use is, I think, “thank you”. I am grateful for what I have and for what I get from others, or even for what I can give to the small world in which I am living.
Currently, the best place for you in SL?
Mareea: I feel really at home in my sim – IMAGO Land and Art Galleries. I discovered in time my passion for landscaping and decorating and finally I could materialize it here. This is though what we could call a never ending “work in progress”.
Mareea: Related to the previous sequence of this interview: How could I get more prims for less money ? A rhetoric question, of course. But I think this is one of the main issues for lot of SL builders… Emotionally, I am moved right now by the spring and its dose of hope, in spite of the anguishing things happening all around us in the real life – the pandemic, the stupidity of this new form of “talibanism” against the great artistic values of the humanity, and I could continue indefinitely…
Is there a work of art in your life that particularly impressed you?
Mareea: Well, I can’t put my finger on one particular work of art. There are so many, in the seven+ art domains, which have marked significantly my entire life, making me who I am today, that it would be unfair to choose one from this “rainbow” of beauty.
What is art for you – now completely independent of the usual definitions?
Mareea: Art is a space to live in, a thin air to breath easily, a flow, a tide, an every day’s bread, milk and honey… and I could go like this on and on ….
Was there a key experience or has the artist profession always been your dearest wish?
Mareea: A wish, since I was a kid. I used to play the piano, I was “directing” kid shows in the courtyard of our home, I was singing and dancing like crazy all day long during the summer vacations … All that turned, in time, into something less artistic, but related to art, literature, poetry. Oh, and here is another confession: I am a lousy RL photographer.
Mareea: The deep love for all the amazing things surrounding both my SL and RL, like nature and culture. The wish to add my small contribution to this beauty.
Do you feel understood with your art?
Mareea: Mostly yes. But I don’t think this is so important. The joy of sharing makes me continue to take photos, to add to them feelings and thoughts through the shapes, colors, lights and shadows. And hoping that I somehow could get to a few people’s hearts or minds.
Do you think that you can make a difference with your art?
Mareea: We all are different. Everything we do or say expresses who we are. We are looking at the same objects, landscapes, persons, etc., but we see them differently. So yes, from this point of view, we could say my pictures make a difference. But if we are speaking about creating something revolutionary in art, something that represents a new style, a new artistic direction, something meant to remain in the history of art, well, I hardly dare consider myself an artist.
Mareea: No. Real SL artists are not so many. “Artists” like me, you can find them everywhere, in galleries, on Flickr, in magazines, blogs and so on… Some of them good enough, others considering themselves good enough to show their snapshots, sculptures, 3D installations, etc. SL is a place for everybody, and God, in his magnanimity, let us all take our “artistic” part in this roleplay.
Do you have any role models? If yes, which?
Mareea: Well, I wish I could make pictures in the manner of Vermeer’s or the impressionists masterpieces… But there is always a gap between wishes and reality…
What does the term art mean to you?
Mareea: There are a lot of dictionary definitions of art, none of them totally satisfying. “Art” is one of those so called “vague terms”, redefined periodically, in this collective effort to precise it’s senses. My subjective definition of the term, you have it already in a previous section of the interview.
Are there any topics that you are particularly interested in implementing?
Mareea: No, not necessarily. For me topics come and go depending on the flow of the momentary inspiration.
What is your strength?
Mareea: Perseverance (one might call it “stubbornness”, without being in a huge error), facility and rapidity in working (which can cause damages concerning the accuracy of what I am producing). So my strengths are accompanied by the correspondent weaknesses, in a precarious balance…
What was the best advice you have ever received in SL?
Mareea: I think it was, some years ago : “Learn and refine your English, darling !” I am still working on it…
Your next projects, exhibitions. Where your art can be seen?
“I’m a SL photographer and the owner of IMAGO Land and IMAGO Art Galleries, a Nature, Art & Culture area open for visitors who love to explore, relax, take photos or admire the highly talented artists works displayed in the galleries.
In my long SL existence (“birthday” – 12/31/2009), I pursued my own photographer carrier, exposing my pictures in several art galleries, The Eye, Club LA Gallery, DIX MIX Gallery, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, ArtCare Gallery, Hoot Suite Art Gallery among them, and hosted, as owner and curator of IMAGO galleries an important number of exhibitions, collective ones like for instance “Furillen at its best”, or “Happy days at NorderNey”, and a lot of individual ones.
My photography covers a large field, from portraits to landscapes, from concrete to metaphoric images, from narrative scenes to still life pictures. Pastel colors are my favorites, expressions of a nostalgic painterly mood. But sometimes I add some color accents or, on a contrary, some dark shades and shadows, showing joy or fears, related to my feelings of the moment. The pictures I create are small steps in the indefinite journey to myself, in the middle of the noisy yet amazing Second Life.”
Maloe Vansant has been in Second Life since 19 January 2007.
Maloe and me first met 12 years ago in SL, and since then we have been strongly bonded. For the last 6 years we have been almost inseparable. Our friendship is far out of the virtual space, full of trust, respect, hearty warm and crowned with strong empathy for the light full and also the dark sides of our personalities.
Maloe belongs to the group of people who are strongly guided by feelings and she is blessed with ability to touch our souls with her photography.
With skillful game between light, shadow, color and composition she creates works that appeal to us not only on the quality level, but also write stories of life and with it catch our thoughts and hearts.
As she says herself, art is not always just a beautiful picture or image of a person. In her photos we experience sorrow, pain, loneliness, death, birth, danger, joy, smile, touch, song, love story and much more.
I am always overwhelmed by Maloe’s work. As her friend I´m the lucky person who has the privilege to see many of her photos before anyone else and often we choose them together for the upcoming exhibition.
After doing the selection, I use to stand alone in front of her photos, understanding her feelings, the moment of happiness and joy, pain and desires, and I find myself immersed for hours in an inner-led story.
Afterwards, like after a thrilling movie, I need a moment to return to the world where I am.
Her pictures speak much more than words can express, and it is my great pleasure and honor to invite you dear Readers, to meet Maloe, one unique artist, amazing friend and truly great human!
How is the artistic process like there? Do you see an object / person / landscape first and then the idea comes up? Or is it upside down?
Maloe: I have a chaotic brain, never have a plan, just start with something and search for the song what covers my mood from that moment.
Your mantra?
Maloe: down to earth girl, I don’t believe in mantra’s.
Currently, the best place for you in SL?
Maloe: my sim, my private home, am sort of a hermit.
A question that moves you right now …
Maloe: where, what, with whom … shall I do radicle changes in my life? Do I have the courage for this? Do I have to move on and say goodbye to the past? I have to figure this out…
Is there a work of art in your life that particularly impressed you?
Maloe: Woman in blue reading by Johan Vermeer, its not such a big painting hanging in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, but it sanded out from all the other paintings around it, and I was drawn to it cached by that amazing color blue, you can only see on the real painting.
What is art for you – now completely independent of the usual definitions?
Maloe: art is for me something that catches me, flabbergasts me, I cant stop looking at, or music that moves me to tears and let it play on repeat, what makes me happy and gives me the thought to create things by myself.
Maloe: what I make is not so difficult to understand I just hope they feel the emotion in the pictures I make and they can be interpret it on their own emotions on that moment.
Do you think that you can make a difference with your art?
Maloe: we all create something … so yes, but not all can be considered as art and than we get that question again what’s art? What I see as art can be total different for others and been seen as rubbish.
Maloe: creativity giving a balance in your life, gives us hope, art isn’t always about beauty it can be dark and edgy, it can be shocking beautiful or shocking repulsive.
*When I joined Second Life in 2007 a new world opened for me, because I never played games or joined any social network site. Second life was best of both worlds, at least for me and I am sure for many others.
After creating little Maloe, my Barbie doll, my pixel soul, I discovered the possibility of making snapshots and I started to make a graphic diary of Maloe’s journey in Second Life, showing the emotions she experienced in this pixel world. I think I succeeded in doing this by using some post processing in Photoshop.
I am not a woman of many words, I try to express myself, my feelings, my passion and probably my dark side through my pictures.” – Maloe Vansant
Gem Price has been in Second Life since May 4, 2008. A thoughtful hiker, trained in science and math, strongly tied to everything to do with nature, cosmos and earth, from astronomy to geology, who spends his free time traveling the world, taking photos and mostly creating digital sceneries, and summaries of the fractals.
In Second Life he found the opportunity to expand and present his passion for creating fractals thanks to digital tools.
As the Gem says: “Nature is subject to physical rules that apply everywhere, regardless of the size of things, and on earth they design landscapes by repeating shapes or movements from gigantic size to the smallest detail: dunes, waves, branches , clouds, rivers … The world of fractals is also dominated by mathematical functions that, like physics in nature, make it possible to create objects whose properties are repeated on any scale. “
This is Gem’s passion for fractals: thanks to the power and purity of the mathematical concept, creating images whose complexity can be reminiscent of natural beings, objects or landscapes.
And this is reflected in his high quality work that he presents in Second Life. His latest exhibition can be seen on the island of Akimitsu as part of “ The Borderless Project, ” sponsored by Akiko Kinoshi, owner and curator, who writes:
“The Borderless Project” is an 8-level, interactive digital art exhibition wherein we play with light: reflections, structures, movement, creation and evolution.. With sounds and music to match the emotions brought to life by the multi-talented team of artists and scripters. The Borderless Project derives much of its inspiration from teamLAB founded in Japan in 2001 by Toshiyuki Inoko, and now a series of multinational installations throughout the world. The Borderless Project, in Second Life, explores what we can do within this world where gravity is unimportant, physics is negotiable, and magic is possible!”
Gem’s levels contain a multitude of thought-provoking spaces such as: Souls, Petals, Lumen, Beads, Dream, Marbles, Jungle, Stream, Lamps, and many more. And these are only 2 of the 8 levels of The Borderless Project. The whole Borderless Team of Magicians are: Betty Tureaud, Gem Preiz, Delain Canucci, Thoth Jantzen, Mitsuko Kytori, Blaise Timtam and Akiko Kinoshi. There are many other levels to explore and all the levels are designed to react to movement and are accompanied by music, sounds and media that allow you to completely immerse yourself in the experience.
All in all, The Borderless Project is a fantastic exhibition and experience that no one should miss and everyone should take some time to journey into these worlds!
I personally got to know Gem a few years ago, primarily through the exhibitions he presented in SL.
True, I have to admit that apart from this interview, I didn’t often have the opportunity to chat with Gem for a long time because he is very cautious and is more of an observer who pulls himself in the background and rarely starts chatting with others first. This interview opened the door for me to get to know the Gem a little better and gave me an insight into the world of his thoughts and his life. I feel very grateful and deeply honored for this opportunity.
I took the liberty of asking Akiko Kinoshi how it is to work with Gem, as I know that she values him very much and has carried out several projects with Gem, to which she replied:
“I met Gem at one of his fractal art openings some years ago, he greeted me in Japanese, I greeted him in French and that was the beginning…Gem is a wonderful artist with great depth who loves to learn new things and then apply his vast experience to personalize it. The Borderless Project is our 4th project together: he installed ‘Skyscrapers’ then ‘Arcadia’ followed by ‘Journey to the Center of a Fractal Earth’ and finally his 2 levels of Borderless. Gem is a total professional as well as a great friend. Humble, self-effacing and generous, he is the ultimate team-player with a great sense of humor whom everyone loves to be around.”
Gem’s personality inspires me, his way of thinking, his complex and broad knowledge, as well as the numerous exhibitions that he presents in Second Life, generate *wow effect * again and again and give me a feeling of the vastness and immeasurable size of the world we are living and the huge cosmos. It is not uncommon for me to find this size as well as the extension of the horizon to generate the necessary distance, which I consider to be very important in order to see things in everyday life from a different perspective. His work has an indescribable power to absorb knowledge, feelings and outlook on life as well as the theory of being, to question and expand it.
Therefore, I can only warmly recommend everyone reading this interview to visit the Borderless Project exhibition and get to know Gem Preiz.
Gem: “long comme un jour sans pain” (French saying which means approx. “boring like a day without bread”). It applies to the art I enjoy in RL every day in reading, paintings in exhibitions or found when surfing on the net, listening to music etc., but also to my own hobbies : creating fractal or digital images, RL photography, and building surreal environments in metaverses, mainly SL.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Gem: from anything which makes me feel insignificant : Nature, Universe, Time, Mankind considered as a whole organized entity, are among the themes I like to illustrate or refer to in my exhibitions or builds.
What is your work about?
Gem: about making an individual (me or a spectator) face a disturbing dimension (spatial or temporal), and lead to questions about our (Mankind) position in the scale of complexity of the Universe (or of our human society), and thus our ability to understand it. In order to achieve this, I try to make the spectators feel overwhelmed by the environment in which I place them : its size, scale or level of details of what I show (e.g. Temples in 2013, Polychronies in 2014, Metropolis in 2015, Heritage in 2016, Sapiens in 2018)
How is the artistic process like there? Do you see an object / person / landscape first and then the idea comes up? Or is it upside down?
Gem: what I create is out of reality, and mostly unrealistic. Fractal images by nature, and even my builds never intend to reproduce reality, but I try to evoke the latter through what I create. As far as fractals are concerned, I produce many images of different styles and I pick up among what I produce, series of images which can illustrate the themes I want to develop. There is obviously a link : if I finalize an image, it is because unconsciously it talks to my mind, and I would likely find a way to include it in something exhibited. As far as builds are concerned, initially I created them to stage the fractals and emphasize them (e.g. Cathedral Dreamer in 2014, No Frontiers in 2017), but more and more they become a creation by themselves (e.g. The Anthropic Principle in 2017, Skyscrapers and Arcadia in 2020).
Gem: difficult. It would be more likely a question than a saying. I love the way Hubert Reeves (Candian astrophysician) questions the Future : in the scale of complexity, from the elementary particles to the Human body and conscience, what is the next step ? … and without answer, I would stick to an Haiku by Ozaki Hôsai that I recently read and loved
“On the tip of a grass
facing the infinite sky
an ant”
Currently, the best place for you in SL?
Gem: Borderless project in Akimitsu Sim, where some people including me exhibit installations in the spirit of TeamLab Japan (project initiated in SL by Akiko Kinoshi). Otherwise the places I visit most frequently at the moment are Art Galleries (depending on what is displayed of course), and shows (particles based or not).
A question that moves you right now …
Gem: my main concerns at the moment are RL : Violence, Inequalities, Social Networks negative aspects.
Is there a work of art in your life that particularly impressed you?
Gem: Many, among which some I often come back to : Charles Dickens works, John Martin or Thomas Cole paintings. I don’t know why, England has always had a great influence on me.
What is art for you – now completely independent of the usual definitions?
Gem: regardless definitions, schools, trends, etc. … I completely assimilate Art to the act of creating. The artist is the one who creates. Then someone else can appreciate, praise, value, judge, like, dislike, feel, think, whatever. But to do something out of nothing : that is art for me.
Was there a key experience or has the artist profession always been your dearest wish?
Gem: though I always appreciated art, especially literature and music in the first times and then painting, I came to creating by myself only 10 years ago, pretty much all of a sudden. At that time there was a conjunction in my RL life of lots of time available, digital tools that I discovered, and SL as an environment where to display my works.
Do you feel understood with your art?
Gem: I use to introduce my works with exhibition notecards. I am cartesian, I like to explain, argue, clarify. So “understood” in the meaning of what do I evoke or what do I mean ? Yes. Understood in term of praising or liking, well … people are kind in SL.
Do you think that you can make a difference with your art?
Gem: Honestly with the images only, I’m not sure. I might be able to create or share a feeling, an emotion thanks to the immersive power of large scale images and thanks to the awe-provoking theme of the Universe that I frequently illustrated with fractals. But I feel more comfortable in sharing thoughts or concerns by the mean of words. I tried twice to link my fractals with stories I wrote (e.g. Wrecks in 2016 and The Anthropic principle in 2017) and almost always join an extensive notecard of explanation (e.g. Gemmy’s World in 2014 or Demiurge in 2018). Adding selected pieces of music to complement the atmosphere has always be another mean to establish the connection with the spectators (e.g. Rhapsody in blue fractals in 2015 or No Frontiers in 2017)
Gem: referring to what I answered to a previous question, I think everyone is able to be or become a creator. in my RL I have known kids writing tales, a marketing director becoming illustrator for children, a doctor in medicine and a tax expert turning into glass blowing, banking executives becoming painter or creator of glass beads jewelry, many many examples of people non educated in Art but driven by the thirst of creating. And the results are often amazing ! Unfortunately too many artists who would have loved to live from their art cannot achieve their dream. A friend of mine’s uses to say : you cannot be rich if you’re an artist, but you can be an artist if you’re rich.
Do you have any role models? If yes, which?
Gem: Apart from all great RL artists I love, I have always been specially impressed by artists who were able to create a complete world through their works, either by creating any single element of it (e.g. Tolkien in RL literature) or thanks to such a different vision of an existing world that they create a new one in parallel (e.g. Melusina Parkin’s extensive and remarkable photographic work in SL)
Are there any topics that you are particularly interested in implementing?
Gem: Thanks to Akiko’s Borderless project, I learnt a lot about lights in SL and how to use scripts to manage them. I would like to go further with these tools, by themselves, or to better display my fractals works. I also greatly appreciated to work with Delain Canucci to improve my exhibition “Journey to the center of a fractal Earth” thanks to her subtle and wonderful particles. All this can bring life and movement to my installations, and that is something which was missing in them, I think.
Gem: I would answer “the scale” of what I propose, which emphasizes the immersive dimension and enables the spectators to forget that my fractals are 2D works. But the scale would be a nonsense without the complexity of the patterns, which also gets the spectators lost in the sceneries.
What was the best advice you have ever received in SL?
Gem: “forget what people think”
Yournext projects, exhibitions. Where your art can be seen?
Gem: I will be part of virtual art biennale 2022 in Amerika, Germany (project promoted and managed by Art Blue and Juliette Surrealdreaming on Craftworld metaverse). In SL, I am slowly preparing an exhibition of fractals on a science-fiction theme. I have no idea when it would be ready. Concerning my personal gallery, I recently closed it (temporarily) cause it needed to be totally reshaped.
“Educated in science and mathematics, I have always been fond of anything related to Nature, Cosmos and Earth, from astronomy to geology, and also a contemplative walker who spends his leisure time traveling around the world (not enough though), taking photographs (a lot), and mostly creating digital sceneries,abstracts, and fractals.
Nature is governed by physical rules which apply everywhere, regardless the size of things. On Earth, they design landscapes, repeating shapes or motions from the huge size to the tiny detail : dunes, waves, branches, clouds, rivers … The world of fractals is, in the same way, ruled by Mathematics functions which, as Physics do in Nature, enable to create objects which features repeat themselves at every scale. There lies my passion for fractals : create thanks to the power and pureness of the Mathematical concept, images the complexity of which can suggest Nature beings, objects or sceneries.
I hope you will enjoy the diversity of shapes and colors that fills my works, as a reflection of Nature’s one.” – Gem Preiz
– Timamoon arts (Feb. 2013): Imaginary worlds, followed by Time Witnesses, then Oniric
– Angelwood Bay art center (Feb. 2013) : Chromatic retrospective
– Somnium gallery (Mar. 2013): Order and Disorder
– Gem’s own gallery (Apr. 2013): Journey to a fractal space (open YouTube please)
– Two shores art gallery (May 2013): Myths
– Timamoon arts (Oct. 2013) : a simple trip into complexity (open YouTube please)
– The Mavin Tinker Gallery (Nov. 2013): Fractal paintings
– Angelwood Bay art center (Nov. 2013): Cities of dreams
– LEA Full Sim Serie (January 2014): a Cathedral Dreamer
Video 1 – Video 2 – Video 3 – Video 4 a Cathedral Dreamer is now a permanent exhibition on Metropolis grid, where it is also part of Vulcanicus Art Museum. Extracts of the Sim have been exhibited at Plusia Ars (Mar. 2014)
– le Bronx (February 2014): Polychronies
– La Maison d’Aneli (June 2014): Gemmy’s world (some of the works exhibited at Fetish Circus in June 2015)
Catherine Nikolaidis has been in Second Life since February 8, 2007. She is an active photographer and blogger manager – studiOneiro & Consent.
When I first saw the photos of Catherine, I immediately felt attracted and excited. The way Catherine plays with shadows, expressing the signals and intensity, how she creates with subtle and detailed that makes the complexibilty of her work mind-blowing.
Catherine bring the Contrast, Tones (Dark & Light), Shapes, Texture and Composition in harmony, and the emotions that she convey with her photos are just as beautiful as her personality.
With her Black & White photos, Catherine sends powerful messages and everything about her photography has style, grace, sensuality, beauty & attractivity.
I am enthusiastic about her work, her personality that shines and arouses a feeling of person who really know what she is doing and why and is deeply earthed. Catherine loves above all the music, she is strongly inspired by moods and feelings that music provide. With her work she expresses sensuality, senses, love, devoted of catching the perfect moment and expressing the dreams.
She is one of those personalities who can indeed see art everywhere, and who may make the world we live in a better one, someone who always strives to be a better person, helps others and stands up for the positive in life .
It is my absolute honor and deep inner pleasure to invite all readers of this interview to meet Catherine Nikolaidis!
Thank you for bringing us in our Second Life the beauty of Black & White photography, Catherine!
On January 23, 2010, Awesome visited Second Life for the first time.
Awesome Fallen is not only a great artist, she is very socially active.
She belongs to the group of heroes of our time who deal with the loss and saving of lives of others every day!
My deepest respect, as well as sincere thanks for your service for others, Awesome!
I am just as enthusiastic about her works of art as about her personality.
The colors, the depths, the ideas, the rationale, the story and the feelings that grow in me while watching Awesome´s photographs range from deep sadness and inner emptiness to the smile of a child and the comforting feeling of being carried and felt with almighty love.
When I asked what is art for her, Awesome told me “the ability to connect with other´s emotions”.
In her work is all always about feelings, emotions, concepts.
Awesome, gives the observer an insight into her emotional world, her “way of life” emotionally connecting with others.
I take the opportunity and would like to cordially invite everyone to look at Awesome’s works of art in peace and to make their own experience.
In simple word´s enjoy the beauty of Awesome´s Fallen Art!
