I visited Etamae and Imaginary Footprints (01Matthew10)’s exhibtion “Memories of a Foreign Reality” at the white pavillion at Itakos Project Art Gallery.
In the accompanying notecard the artists describe the background of this exhibtion:
“Memories of a foreign reality`s main thought is based on the struggles and feelings of disconnection of the individual.
Back in the 60`s and 70`s there was a need to raise this individualism as the holy grail. We evolved the individual to the highest goal, and now we see the result.
Millions of confused minds are searching for a hold. Entangled in political and economical strategies. The American dream, or the possibility of being a important person on the world wide web has given us a tenuous hold, a fragile rope that can easily be severed.
Populism, preachers, industry each have their play with us. We are living in interesting times of change.
The soul… a character in a context… equal to others… seem to be forgotten. but it is there… it suffers… and it tries to be seen.
“Memories of a Foreign Reality” by Etamae and Imaginary Footprints at Itakos Project Art Gallery (1)
The bringing together of two artists who not only admire each other as photographers but as people was a journey that culminated with Memories of a Foreign Reality.
Merging both photography and ideas resulted in some interesting work that evolved as it was passed back and forth until each was content with their own perception of each piece.“
The pictures are all in black and white. They consist of several layers, and some seem to be put together like puzzles. You recognize fragments and pieces in these pictures, often faces, sometimes there’s another photograph peeking through. Most of them convey fear and lonliness, at least for me. The soul is something we can’t grab, maybe the last secret of human beings, if the soul exists. As always everybody does see different things in pictures, everybody makes up different stories. As far as I understood the notecard, the pictures were exchanged between Etamae and Imaginary Footprints, they added and changed them individually until they both were content with the result, until both saw their message conveyed. In this sense the pictures are even more intriguing, there might be two souls, two messages fighting to inspire the spectator.
I like the complexity of these pictures and the many possible interpretations.
“Memories of a Foreign Reality” by Etamae and Imaginary Footprints at Itakos Project Art Gallery (2)
I have come across Etamae quite often this year already. Etamae is from the UK and began transforming her pictures from the things she has seen and loved in Second Life into something else, in digital art in 2018. Etamae is not defined by just one style or area of art, she plays with different patterns and tries herself out in a broader spectrum of art. And the exhibition at Itakos Project Art Gallery is no exception. Again she tried out something new.
You can also find her pictures at her flickr page.
“Memories of a Foreign Reality” by Etamae and Imaginary Footprints at Itakos Project Art Gallery (3)
I didn’t find out much about Imaginary Footprints (01Matthew10), who’s art I saw the first time. He’s in Second Life for almost 4 years and looking up his profile reveals just that he likes philosophical texts. He has a flickr page where you can see more of his pictures – unchanged and not processed by Etamae.
The Itakos Art Gallery is owned and curated by Akim Alonzo. Actually it is a place for arts with four pavillions on two floors and one sky platform. There’s also a website where new exhibtions are announced.
Landmark to Itakos Project Art Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ATL/182/214/1009
The Itakos Project and Art Gallery website
http://itakos.it/
Etamae’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/people/157802675@N08/
Imaginairy Footprints flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/164888130@N04/
Diomita Maurer’s Blog 