An Exhibition/Installation by Kika Yongho

I’m standing in a field.  The sky is blue, the clouds are high above and a large crowd has gathered to listen to singer Vic Worbridge and after her,  DJ Goodes Bade.  It’s a sunny afternoon….and on top of the hill in front of us, Vic sings a SADE song. As exceptional as they both are – what we are really here for is:  I AM VENUS.

Around us, on the cliffs and floating in the water is the photography of Kika Yongho.   It is both an exhibit and a meditation on the life force that is water – and how a group of women in second life reflect on the place water plays in their world.

“Water is the ink with which life writes its stories.”
Rachel Carson (American marine biologist) submitted by -❈´- Josephine Delvalle

The installation is at ARTSVILLE, the always interesting and ever growing art venue(s) that co-owners Jerzzie Reece-Redstar and Frank Atisso created and manage. You’ll find I AM VENUS above the main galleries – and it can be accessed via the teleport system from the main galleries landing point.

I’ll get to Kika’s exhibit in a sec – but first I want to mention her practice – which is all about collaboration. There is a methodology in some academic circles known as “collaborative poetics” which aims to harness the skills and knowledge of artists, academic researchers and community participants working together as a ‘research collective’  to produce innovative, creative pieces which enrich our understanding of social issues and the lived experience of these issues. This in turn helps to communicate this new knowledge in engaging and accessible ways. From my vantage point that is what can make Second Life such a satisfying place to work if you are a creative – and it is exactly what Kika brings to her community in Second Life. This exhibit is a perfect example.

Photo Cafe is another (The most recent flyer.)

Yongho calls  I Am Venus a female portrait gallery that explores the relationship of the participants with Love, “Life, the Universe, and Everything”, here symbolized by Water.

-`❈´-[[ The Venuses ]]- 》》》

Each woman invited (each Venus!) was asked to give Yongho a written statement that reflected her own connection or thinking about water. That, in turn, inspired each photograph. You are able to read all the captions in a notecard given at the exhibit, or walking near the frames of the exhibit, in local chat.

Here are a few of them interspersed with the names of all the Venuses:

  “I love the ocean. The vastness of the Ocean evokes feelings of freedom and liberation. I find solace in the boundless horizon. For me it’s a symbol of endless possibilities. The sound and sight of waves crashing or gently lapping at the shore have a soothing, meditative quality that make me feel at peace.” `❈´- Moonsoul Kiyori

     “Nurturing. It represents life itself, offering a profound sense of safety and comfort when immersed in it. Water provides a release of emotions, allowing one to dissolve into the vastness and find solace. To me, water is home.” -`❈´- Creamy Teardrop

   -`❈´- αкι™ (Aki Kiyori)  `❈´- A. (Ava Darkheart) `❈´- ღ Babe ღ (Babe Whimsy)

        “Water, in all its forms, has been a confidant, a muse, a healer. It has taught me to flow with life’s currents, to embrace change, and to find beauty in the journey. My relationship with water is a dance of reverence and gratitude, a testament to the profound connection between nature and the human soul. It is in water that I find my true self, ever fluid, ever evolving, boundless and free.” `❈´- Ⴆҽҽ (Filipa Emor)

`❈´- Clementine Rosca        `❈´- Elena (Elena Amethyst)  `❈´- Ŧคlєภץ (Faleny Resident)

  -`❈´- Franny BlameTheCat (Francesca Pfeffer) `❈´- Igi (Igielka Resident)  -`❈´- Josephine Delvalle

        “In some indigenous traditions women carry an open vessel of water great distances as a way to bring awareness to endangered bodies of water.  It is based in the traditional belief that women are responsible for caring for the water. We are water.”  -`❈´- Lanne Wise

❈´- Lika Cameo `❈´- Loony Carabosse – Moretto (Louna Perl)

-`❈´- Louisa Camino -`❈´- Moki Yuitza

-`❈´- Moonsoul Kiyori -`❈´- onceagain (manoji Yachvili)

    “Water means emotion. feelings. water transposes all that’s to be found in our hearts. look at the sea. it is the calm feeling on a morning under the sun. it is the brightness and joy of a new beginning. it is the restlessness before the dark clouds appear. the rage during the storm. it is both gentle and disruptive. it is our mirror.”    `❈´- Syd Specter (Syd00 Resident)

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    -`❈´- Pink Arkin -`❈´- sabr Zirgar -`❈´- Soile (HarperRose Starchild)

-`❈´- v ɪ ᴄ (Victoria Worbridge)

-`❈´- ϮƗ Vɪᴏʟᴇᴛᴛᴇ Mᴏʀɴɪɴɢꜱᴛᴀʀ ƗϮ (Violette Rembrandt)

        “I am water that reaches the tiniest crack of earth, touching it and being touched deeply just before evaporating with all its humors back up to the sky, condensing into clouds, mingling all the flavors together and raining them back down, pouring them back on fertile soil. I am water, you are water too now.” -`❈´- Kika Yongho

The party continues, all the Venus’s dancing on stage with the DJ.  Not in a line.  Not all the same….each their own dance. All individual strong women bringing their messages to the world.

“The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”
— Clarissa Pinkola Estés (Women Who Run With the Wolves)