“Global Rose” by Anouk A.
Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
I was drawn to Anouk A’s art the first time I saw her work, commenting on the photo. She sent me a message telling me she was Kyrie Source in a previous incarnation. Since I was similarly drawn to Kyrie’s work, of course Anouk spoke to me. What I like about her work is how clean and simple it is. Minimal.
There’s this marvelous conundrum with simplicity. Done right, simplicity is more revealing and more emotionally powerful than complexity. It can be like a punch in the gut, simple, powerful, and you feel it. That’s what her artwork is like for me. Some of her work is very challenging for me. I appreciate her ability to find beauty in everything and her exploration of the boundaries of the feminine. Her photostream is challenging, beautiful, and fascinating. The artist behind the pictures is equally challenging, beautiful, and fascinating.
Tell me a bit about yourself. What brought you to SL, how long have you been in SL?
My name IRL is Karoline Georges, I’m a French-Canadian published writer and a professional artist. I’ve published seven books, most are sci-fi novels. I write in the French language, but you can find my third novel, “Under the Stone”, in English. As an artist, I use video, 3D modeling, photography and music to create my artworks. I show my work in art galleries and festivals both in America and in Europe.
I created my first avatar, Kyrie Source, back in 2006. I started to blog in 2009, did over 500 images with Kyrie, then felt the need for a pause. At first, I wanted to explore the literal concept of «femme-image» (I don’t know if you have an English expression to translate the idea?). It was a way to pursue the quest of the sublime of a character from one of my published novels. When I created my second avatar, Anouk A., I was working on a new novel … inspired by my journey in SL! So I wanted to explore, furthermore, photography, but also what it means to create a digital self, what are the new ideals of beauty, what does it mean to be feminine here and now.
“Midnight Barbie” by Anouk A.
How would you describe your work, what sets it apart from others?
I’ve always been a minimalist photographer, that’s one thing. A decade ago, I was already doing B&W SL photography using a single light spot, with an abstract background. «Less is more » is my motto. I’ve always wanted to reach some kind of realism, too. I want to create a blur zone between what is real and what is digital. I want to stand right in the middle of it.
Where do you get inspiration for your work?
Before becoming an artist, I was a historian of art. With a specialty in Modern and Contemporary art. I spend many years in universities studying the most important artworks in the world. I also studied cinema and video. And photography. So, often you will see some art references in my work. I embrace popular culture, too. And this goes from Playboy to Disney. I’d say I’m fascinated by our global image culture. It’s also the main theme of my last published novel this past fall, «De synthèse».
Who are some of your favorite artists, SL or RL or both?
This is pure torture! I love so many RL artists… It would take days to list them all! In SL, Shi, LODE, Cerberus Zing, Apple Fall, Ibi 8F8, Tres Blah, Anya Ohmai, Swallow, to name a few, are all designers I consider as great artists. I have some pure affection for photographers I’ve followed for almost a decade, like Miaa Rebane, Petra Messioptra, Steffy Ghost, Melusina Parkin, Jammie Hill, Joslyn Benson, Kazicle, Cicciuzzo Gausman, Spartin Parx or Thalia Heckroth. And I could name way much more, of course. Oram Solis is my latest fav.
“Winter Sound” by Anouk A.
What is your process for creating your photos?
Many designers send me their items so I always start by opening the boxes I got while I was offline and try new items. Then something catches my eyes. It might be something as simple as a new piercing. My goal is to showcase items I’m inspired by, and focus on them. After that, I don’t think that much, I rotate around my subject until I feel I have a good point of view. I play with light, both with WindLights and prims. I shoot. I open my image in Photoshop, edit it for about 5 or 10 minutes. The whole process usually fits in less than an hour. I have a very busy RL so I could not spend much more time on an image anyway!
Any tips and tricks for other aspiring photographers?
Be curious about your tools. Explore as much as you can. Take some time to just fool around with Windlight. Photography should be a meditative state. So don’t stress it out. Start by something simple. One object, one light source. See how you feel about it. Don’t try to copy others. Explore your own creativity.
“Contemporary Dance IV” by Anouk A.
Erotica is a primary focus of your work with a lot of fetish elements, piercings, bondage, mortification. There are also several with body modification … sort of cyborg. Are you interested in science fiction and futurism? What inspires this fascination? Do you also seek it out in other venues such as reading, film, or role play? Is this an SL interest or in both first and second life?
As I stated before, I write sci-fi novels. And I’ve been writing about androids and cyborgs for almost two decades. We are building a virtual body with our avatars and I wonder about our feminine ideals, how we deal with clichés from RL, with our cultural background, and what is left of sensuality. But most of all, my experiment is about our collective process as a virtual community. What is fashionable in SL? I blog many famous designers. They create piercing? I will feature piercing. They create some kawaiï pinky pink fashion? I will feature it too. Femme fatale? Dirty rebel? Queen of Renaissance? The girl next door? I’m all there. I love when a new designer comes to me with a new approach, a new style, a new vision of femininity.
Almost a decade ago, high fashion was all over SL. But right now, I think we are all still amazed with our mesh bodies, so showing a bit of flesh with a tattoo is a trend. Something else will come up. And hopefully I’ll be there to explore it.
“Free Falling” by Anouk A.
How much does Second Life influence your writing? There seems so much cross-pollination between your writing and Second Life and your art, is that true or a false impression?
I’m an interdisciplinary artist. So yes, everything I write will affect my art and vice versa. I came to Second Life to pursue the quest of the sublime of one of my novel characters, who wanted to be a pure image. In my last published novel, De synthèse, I imagine how we will interact with our avatars 10 years from now. I don’t mention SL at all in my book, but I was inspired by my own creative process with my SL avatar. I also mixed some 3D modeling sources and RL sources, with a picture I did with my SL avatar to create the cover of the book.
Cajsa Lilliehook joined Second Life in 2007 and has been enjoying the art of SL ever since. Disliking the common practice of critiquing poor photos, she decided to highlight good ones and explain why they work in hopes of inspiring with praise instead of criticism. Follow Cajsa on Flickr, on Twitter or on her blog.
Comments