Diomita Maurer’s Blog

I had an art afternoon on Wednesday, March 4th, and went to Sim Quarterly once again. Currently Sim Quarterly presents “impostor” by FionaFei.

Sim Quarterly is a sim and initiative of Electric Monday:
“Art and the virtual world, Second Life© are very similar — you are able to both find yourself and immerse yourself (and maybe even lose yourself) in something totally unlike what you already know. The experiences you gain help you grow and form new opinions about the world. That is what I hope this sim can provide over time. I am very excited to bring to you a quarterly art project by way of The Sim Quarterly.
The project features one creator every 3 months (every quarter) as an artist in residence. The purpose of the sim is so that residents can experience something new and even create a community.”
The current installation “impostor by FionaFei” will stay opened until May 30, 2020.”
Learn more about Sim Quarterly at their website.

I came across FionaFei visiting her Shui Mo Gallery in January 2020 (see Art in Second Life 2020 (2) Shui Mo Gallery)

Impressions of “impostor” by FionaFei (1) – upper left is the landing spot from where you teleport into the Installation itself

FionaFei choose the title “impostor” as the installation is “a self portrait and a critique of myself as an artist. The exhibit showcases an ink-brush painting of mountains layered over each other to form landscapes often seen in many traditional Chinese landscape paintings. However, there are metaphorical “big red-flags” in the scene that interrupt the perfect serenity of the painting. The inspiration behind this exhibit came from her cultural background as a Chinese American immigrant and her technical background as an oil painter.”

Fioma is Chinese by decent but spent the majority of her life in the West: “I have a fascination with Chinese history and culture, but I often feel like I’m viewing my ancestry through a filter of Americanized information and experiences. Furthermore, my artistic background has been in charcoal and oil painting mediums, and I’ve had very little experience in actual ink-brush painting. For these reasons, “impostor” is meant to be a self critique and reflection of my inexperience with the actual ink-brush medium, where I feel like I’m never “good enough,” but I’m embracing it.“

Impressions of “impostor” by FionaFei (2)

Just like at the Shui Mo Gallery you walk through the Chinese ink painting, becoming a part of it once you teleported from the landing point to the installation itself. Quite dominating are 2 giant red hands rising from the ground that seemingly try to grab you. You walk through the installation along a wooden walkway, also painted in black ink. The installation/picture surrounded by high mountains and you see some trees scattered on the slopes.

When following the path you also come through a field of red flowers and signs, a real contrast to the black and white and if you further walk on you get to the other side of a mountain and find the ink brush, a strong picture that you actually exist as a part of a painting.

Impressions of “impostor” by FionaFei (3)

Needless to say that the impressions are overwhelming. The painting does fulfill all stereotypes that we might have in mind about Chinese ink art. You really get great backgrounds for pictures. By concidence I fitted into the Chinese painting very well with my quite erotic outfit.

On the top of one mountain you find kind of a temple, a tempel for ink! Try to sit on the central element inside, an ink pot. You can worship the ink there – and I did.

Impressions of “impostor” by FionaFei (4) – worship the ink!

FionaFei herself characterized the elements of her installation “impostor” as follows:
Red Hands: My hands reach out from the white abyss of the painting to forcefully touch the scene.
Red Flowers: The red flowers signify my imagination beyond Chinese ink, and my love of whimsy.
Giant Ink splatters: Ink splashes across the surface of the landscape as my inexperience becomes ever more present.  All the mistakes with the “brush” has manifested itself in explosions of ink. 
Red Chinese Characters: The Chinese Characters 你是谁 (Ni Shi Shei?) asks “Who are you?”

Thank you Fiona for this installation. I enjoyed becoming part of it and walking through it. Thank you Electric Monday so much for your initiave and for hosting “impostor“ by FionaFei, which shall stay opened until May 30, 2020.

Landmark to Sim Quarterly
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Sim%20Quarterly/6/6/1403
Sim Quarterly website
http://thesimquarterly.com/
Welcome to “Impostor” by Fiona Fei
http://thesimquarterly.com/2020/03/01/welcome-to-imposter-by-fiona-fei/
Sim Quarterly Flickr group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/thesimquarterly/
Landmark to FionaFei’s Shui Mo Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreams/147/44/2554
Fiona’s Website:
fionafei.portfoliobox.net
Fiona’s Flickr:
flickr.com/people/fionafei