Feed a Smile Art Gallery, Part of the Feed a Smile Charity for Live and Learn in Kenya

here are three new artists exhibiting at the Feed a Smile Gallery in December! Come take a look!
Our first artist is Maiya Gant. Maiya is sharing some of her skillfully imagined AI work. This exhibit has a strong female vibe, with art that celebrates creative portraits. We also see a bit of her whimsical side, with a few wintery night design that seem to me like a modern take on Van Gogh.

Next we have Kal Habana, who went with a food theme — in sync with the holiday season! Kal finds the fun in various familiar foods like coffee and pizza. And even though it wasn’t planned, Bee Heron Blakewell was in the same food spirit! His works showcase a variety of foods, emphasizing the special way food brings us together.

Please keep in mind that all proceeds from the sale of this art goes to Brique Topaz’s well-established charity called Feed a Smile, which is an offshoot of Live & Learn in Kenya – a school that supports the health and education of children who live in tragic poverty in the Rhonda slums in Nakuru, Kenya. Each 100L donation feeds a child a nutritious meal. This program is unparalleled in SL and it’s wonderful to know that your lindens go directly from your linden bank account to a beautiful smiling child in Kenya. There are few charities that allow us to make such an immediate effect in making the world a better place! Stop by!

– Angela Thespian

---

Petite Industrial Gallery

Ilyra Chardin has crafted an immersive multimedia installation at Petite Industrial Gallery titled “From the Undersea Files of Lord Thaddeus G. Royden.” Step into the timeless Steampunk aesthetic in this artful exploration. This genre emerged in the mid-1980s as a literary movement that has roots in science fiction and technology. The depiction, style, and fashion have trended for decades in popular culture. The attraction of the vibrant intense colors and intricate mix of life with machinery keeps your eyes engaged and in awe of such a forward-thinking time.

Exploring the gallery takes you down an elevator into a submarine-styled gallery layout. Large glass windows give the feeling of being underwater, immersing you from every angle. Schools of fish swim in a sunken seascape of life and a friendly mechanical octopus watches you back. That playful surrealistic style Ilyra is known for makes her installations fun and stimulating.

Entering the two-floor gallery shows more of that whimsical expressionism in pieces from the ‘Underwater Study’ series. From the mesmerizing women to the steampunk prawn-like creation, each piece is a visual representation of a story. Pipes, cogs, and wheels of various copper colors mix with the turquoise and blues of water.

On the second floor, a photo called ‘The Carriage’ shows a horse-drawn carriage walking the street at night along a warmly lit corridor. The carriage looks to be a mix of old-world Victorian design and brass accents. The horses look to be from an alternate universe with their muscular build. Visit for imaginative visuals and a story-rich journey.

– Kairi Cristole

Chelsea Plaza Galleries

Opening night for Consuela Hypatia Caldwell’s “Brilliance Abstracted” was a wonderful event. Live music filled the courtyard area just outside the gallery along with additional pieces on display for viewers to enjoy. What stands out the most are the bursts of color for each piece and the various textures that are mixed to give the image intensity.

In ‘Cool Plane Meets Fire Mountain’ there is an intense center burning between the cold sky and chilled water, drawing the eyes to the warmest part of the picture. The enjoyment of Abstract art comes from allowing your eyes time to take in what your mind interprets the vision to portray. The mountains seem to crackle where they meet the shore, yet towards the top look a bit speckled as does the reflection of the water below.

For ‘Evening Inferno,’ the view appears to be from a forest floor looking up into the night sky with the sunset fading into darkness. The deep shades of blue and purple mixed with the burst of reds and oranges exist on the right. There is an emotional bond that is intended for the viewer to feel. “Working on an abstract emotional level, it transcends definition to reveal something deeper in ourselves. I hope in experiencing my work you will be able to connect with these emotions in a new journey of discovery.”

– Kairi Cristole

Petite Industrial Gallery

Love and loss are experiences we cannot escape. It is part of our lives whether it is a loss of love or loss of a loved one. For the exhibition ‘Memory Love Loss’, Scylla Rhiadra explores the complex way our memory can be more than just the ‘stories’ we share about our experience. Memory can be love. It can be about what we are missing. It doesn’t have to be perfect or complete.

Each image is to be viewed as a fragment of a memory. For the piece ‘And You Said’, the subjects’ expression looks playfully contemplative. Paired with this image is an excerpt from ‘An Essay Concerning Human Understanding’ by John Locke. From the quote, he speaks of the perception that we have in our minds as either real or our mind has made it to be real. Our mind can create or fill in what we may be missing.

In ‘Damaged’ there is a great contrast between the background and the model’s face looking hopefully upward into the light. Perfectly paired with Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise” I see a woman who, despite the darkness is optimistic.

This year I faced the loss of my mother very unexpectedly. I feel a connection to this exhibit because it’s been difficult coming to terms with my memories being all I have left, fearing if I will remember the stories that we shared properly. I feel that absence, my mind is fighting to keep the pieces together that store the history of who I am. I feel each of us will find some of these fragments to be relatable. It’s healing to learn from this exhibit that the loss is nothing to fear, and that love will help remember in the absence.

– Kairi Cristole

Michiel Bechir Gallery

Tis the season for beauty and wonder! The Michiel Bechir Gallery has four collections from the talented artists Lalie Sorbet, Thus Yootz, Maat, and Michiel Bechir. On the first floor to the left, as you enter, Michiel has dived right into the season with photos capturing the many charms of winter like the joy captured in the photo ‘Winter Dance’ and the first snow in ‘Winter Landscape’ Each image shows winter in different hues, some showing warmth and others showing the icy blue chill of the season.

Across the way on the first floor are the works of artist Thus Yootz. With a master’s in art and 10 years of study in multiple areas like drawing, sculpture, and photography, their pictures have deep rich colors as well as cohesive textures. I love the chaos of ‘Words. Burning’ with its flex of flame layered with faded scratched texture. Every piece engages your eyes over the entire image.

On the second floor, Maat has a stunning exhibit of various types of orchids. In the language of flowers, orchids represent refined beauty, pure affection, and grace. Each holds a beautiful woman’s face. The positioning of the petals accentuates the facial features of each woman, allowing the romantic allure to flourish.

Finally, Lalie Sorbet has a set of monochromatic photos giving a mix of whimsical and powerful statement images. ‘The Artist’ for example offers insight into her sensitivity to nature. It caught my attention immediately. In the picture, ‘Where is my mind’, I feel it speaks volumes about communication having ‘no signal’ thus amplifying the noise.

– Kairi Cristole