Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
Whiskey Monday has been sharing her unique vision of Second Life-based imagery on Flickr for the past six years. From the beginning, as shown above by this 2012 photo above, “Constant Conversation”, she was experimenting and defining the motifs that will be a constant during her ongoing development as a surrealist. Over the years, she has refined her aesthetic to the point that her photos are instantly recognizable as hers, and hers alone. I have always seen her as an inheritor of Andrew Wyeth, or Wyeth if he fully indulged his surreal tendencies.
Most people think of “Christina’s World” when they think of Wyeth. He is considered a realist and surely the experts know best. But then, how do you explain “No Trespassing?” When you look at his works, you can see how he strips away the unnecessary. That realistic environment is an abstraction of what was really there. He also finds these linear planes in a natural world and exploits them so there is this uneasiness in his world.
Whiskey shares her color palette with Wyeth, and the spareness of her work and her use of horizontal and vertical planes remind me of him. Take a look at the lines of “Pentacost” or the static tension of “Young Bull” and to me, it seems self-evident: If Wyeth were a liberal surrealist in a virtual world rather than a conservative realist IRL, he would be producing art very like Whiskey Monday.
Whiskey is a friend. Nearly every interview I have done for this column has been with people I do not know. My first contact is a “Can I interview you?” Flickr message. It’s so much easier to interview strangers because I am not worried whether my questions will sound silly or whether someone will think my connecting them to Wyeth is hare-brained. But I went ahead and asked anyway.
How would you describe your Second Life art? What movements would you say have the most influence on you?
I would describe my own SL art as personal. Even though I put it out there for others to see, I create it mostly for me. It’s weird, off balance, full of conflict, and one of a kind – just like me. I am drawn to surreal art in all worlds, because in many ways surreal feels more realistic to me. Surrealism is about conflict and to me, the best art reflects conflict well.
I sometimes think that if Andrew Wyeth were a surrealist, he might have created works like yours. Does that make any sense to you?
YES. Thank you! The Wyeth family of work has been a constant influence in my entire life. And really, Andrew Wyeth is a surrealist of sorts. The world he paints is slightly askew in its way. Any chance I get to visit Wyeth works in person, I take it. Andrew’s works are even more surreal in person. And Jamie Wyeth is one of my all-time favorite artists. His work is even more surreal and haunting.
NEXT: Whiskey responds to Trump's election -- and a glimpse of Whiskey's IRL
I always, 100% start with a photo in my head. Then I wind up with about 90% of the piece able to be recreated. But because my chosen medium is SL, I have to deal with what’s available to me. So the last 10% is playing with my inventory to make my screen look sorta like what I see in my head. Sometimes I even get there.
What advice do you have for other SL artists?
YOU DO YOU FOR YOU. That’s the advice I’d give anyone, if asked. Don’t try to be or do anyone else. Do and be your own, authentic self. Sure, traditional Art 101 advice is to copy the masters and yes, by all means, study their methods and credit their influence. But in the end, if you’re going to take the time to create something, make it 100% yours and do it for you.
You do art in your first life, too, how does your SL art influence your FL art and vice versa? Are they distinct, symbiotic, or is there another way they relate?
Most of my RL artwork is fiber “handcraft.” I’m lucky enough to have grown up with an artist mom who believed that handcraft is fine art, and so I’ve always tried to elevate my hand-crafted fiber work to meet the idea of fine art. I don’t see art as just drawing or painting or even just visual. The arts encompass all manner of creation, and I’m happy that I can express myself across a multitude of medium. I’m “okay” at fiber art, but my first love will always be words. I am first and foremost a writer, and that is my one true talent. The rest is all just another way to give words a visual life.
What do you want to share about your first and Second lives?
I’m my authentic self in all worlds. I enjoy crafting my SL avatar to look and feel like RL me, as that helps me feel more immersed and makes my SL work that much more personal. My RL world is happy and content, for the first time in almost a decade. My SL world reflects that contentment. I log in to create and explore the art that other Residents are creating. I log out and go walk my dogs.
What is your favorite photo? What inspired it? What were you trying to say?
My favorite photo that I’ve created is titled “Who Has Who.” This photo accurately reflects where I was in my RL. I was feeling trapped and tired and alone and exposed. I wanted my “cage” to be precariously constructed, as if it would collapse if I moved. Because so many cages are self-constructed and easily escaped, though we rarely see them that way.
Do you have a photo you think is misunderstood? What do you want to express and what do people see?
I do believe that my photo, “514 Words” is misunderstood. The photo is inspired by a short piece I wrote about my father’s suicide. Many people reached out to me, concerned that I was expressing my own suicidal tendencies. Ironically, many of my other photos have expressed those feelings, but this one was a representation of the writing process and difficulty I had with those 514 words.
Who are some of your favorite artists in first and Second Life?
That’s like asking me to choose a favorite musician. There are too many to list! I don’t knoooowwww. And what makes a favorite? The work I have hanging in my own home isn’t the same as the work I enjoy looking at in museums which isn’t the same as the work I look at online and in books. Second Life is easier and smaller, so I’ll happily list a few favorites from there: Melusina Parkin (Can I please just live in her viewpoint of the world?), Deborah Lombardo, Meilo Minotaur, Eupalinos Ugajin (best immersive, play-through art inworld, IMO), Jewel Appletor, and Key Monk – to name a few.
All Caps is one of my favorites and of course, I think of this Malvina Reynolds song. Did any particular event inspire it?
I think the date says it all. This photo was created right after Trump’s inauguration. I was left feeling jarred and scared and confused. I looked around at my neighbors, my coworkers, and my community and wondered how many of them had voted for him and a repressive Republican agenda. I was wondering how we got there. And I realized that it would be easy to just blame the sheep mentality of those voters, but the truth is, we’re all sheep. We’re all being herded along in groups. I realized that it wasn’t just those who voted for Trump who got us here, it was all of us, and our mindlessly walking along. I think we all had a bit of a wakeup call. I would have told you I was an active, involved voter before the 2016 election, but I woke up to the fact that I was just as sheepish as anyone who voted for him. I’m re-learning what it means to be an active, aware, and involved citizen.
Repetition is a huge motif in your work. It's amazing how the repetition of an object sort of decontextualizes it, changing its meaning. How do you think that happens?
I think repetition of an item creates conflict and tension, particularly when the items are identical and not naturally seen in large groups. Rezz a bunch of identical trees and they aren’t as jarring or symbolic as a bunch of identical sheep or bodies or houses. The viewer’s mind struggles with context and it forces the viewer to create a new dialogue with the item and allows the item to create an entirely new storyline. And of course it’s particularly effective in Second Life.
What question(s) do you wish I had asked?
(Laughs) You should have asked me why I seem to work in cycles. I tend to come into SL to create art every six months or so. I create some pieces and then stop again for a while. I usually come to create in SL when I’m stuck in my RL writing. When I’m struggling with something and need to be able to “see” it from a different angle. My SL art is just a different angle, a different way of seeing my writing. And once I work through my block, I go back to writing instead of creating in SL. It works for me. :blush:
What do you want people to know about you?
I want people to know that I can wiggle my ears and that I am well and truly alive.
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.
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