Ilyra Chardin, is a great artist and a very creative installation builder whom I have the honor to call my friend. Ilyra has a very distinctive artistic style as a digital painter and sculptor, as well as being a very interesting person to talk with and learn from. It’s a great pleasure for me to re-introduce her to the FOCUS Group, sharing her latest her ideas and interests.

Hermes Kondor: Hello Ilyra. It’s a great pleasure and honor for us to have the opportunity to talk with you about your career as an artist and a creator in Second Life. First of all, to begin by the beginning, please let us know how did you find Second Life, and what motivated you to enter the metaverse to create Ilyra Chardin?
Ilyra Chardin: Thank you so much, Hermes. I am truly honored for this opportunity to be featured in Focus Magazine, again. The first time was in July 2020.

Ilyra Chardin: I joined SL in 2007 at the urging of my RL husband. Actually, he had been asking me to join for about 2 years (he joined SL in 2005), and I resisted because I didn’t know what I would do in SL. He was a builder and I didn’t think I could do that. He finally won and I joined in February of 2007. With him and his SL partner’s help, I was well-off for a newb. I had lindens and a house and an avatar that was very up-to-date for early 2007. I DJ’d for a living and I had a lot of fun doing that. Ilyra came later — more than 3 years later.

Hermes: Who is Ilyra, and how different is she from the real person inside?

Ilyra: Well, when I first created Ilyra, she was dramatically different from me. I created her as an RP (role play) character. She was a thief! She was very cheeky, fast on her feet, and not-too-bad with a bow. She could say things that I never would say, but as she and I got older (and I got much more interested in learning more about how to create digital art) she became a lot like me. I am myself as her now.

Hermes: Would you share with us more in particular about your journey as an artist and as a very creative builder in Second Life?

Ilyra: When I got to Second Life, I had to learn how to walk. So you can just imagine how difficult it was to learn how to build. It was a slow process. I was learning how to work with prims and learning how to use tools like Paintshop Pro to create textures. Knowing how to do things in RL doesn’t mean that you automagically know how to work with digital tools. It’s taken me a number of years to be able to use Paintshop Pro and Photoshop effectively and to be able to use them to paint digitally.

Hermes: Could you walk us through your creative process? From conceptualization to execution, what steps do you typically take when creating your art?

Ilyra: For 2D or a single 3D piece of art, it begins when I have an inkling of what I want to express. For 2D, I begin then with basic composition, which is layout and layering (sort of like a collage). Once I have something that I like, then I paint it. I do that in layers and iterations until I’m either satisfied or I decide that it’s not going to work. That happens from time to time.

For an exhibition/installation, sometimes I know exactly what I’d like to say, and sometimes not. If I don’t know, it begins with me building (using basic prims) to work through ideas. There is a lot of deleting and redoing and restarting that occurs. That happens, too, sometimes even when I have an idea of what I want to say. I try to create most of the build myself. This includes textures, mesh, art, and structures. If the installation is to be a performance, then I also compose the music and lyrics and/or narration (I do the voice-overs).

Hermes: What inspires and influences your art and creative process? Are there specific themes, experiences, or sources that drive your creativity?

Ilyra: I think what really drives me is an inner need to create and to challenge myself to learn more each time. I take my inspiration for themes for my installations from books I’ve read, movies, current events, life experience, etc. Second Life provides me with a place and opportunities to develop and express myself in a multitude of ways.

Hermes: How do you perceive the differences between creating art in, and for, Second Life versus traditional physical mediums?

Ilyra: In the beginning, it was more difficult for me to create digitally in and for Second Life than it was for me to create a piece in RL. Now that I’ve been learning and doing digital art for years in and for SL, it’s become easier for me. I still paint in real life, but much, much, much less frequently.

Hermes: Have you faced any special challenges or encountered unexpected opportunities while creating art within Second Life? If so, could you share some experiences?

Ilyra: Second Life has presented me with a myriad of opportunities to learn and to express myself. The challenge always is: how can I take this idea that’s in my mind and make into something digital that others can see it. How can I make it express what I’d like to say?

Hermes: Technology evolves rapidly, and AI in particular is a great challenge for all the artists an creators. How is your own creative process evolving with this new reality, in particular for your SL creations?

Ilyra: I didn’t touch or play with AI when it first came out. Sometime after, (a year or so?) I dabbled with it once to make an item for a poster. Then I stopped. My struggle with AI was: how can I use it as a tool and still preserve my own style? Within the last six months or so, I started using AI to produce a very basic item – sort of as stock – that I could then modify, correct, and then process and paint my own way. I am enjoying the challenge that it presents. And I’m learning a lot, which I really enjoy.

Hermes: What are your thoughts on the future of virtual worlds, particularly Second Life, as platforms for artistic expression? Do you foresee any trends or developments that might shape the future of art inside this particular alternative reality, that is Second Life?

Ilyra: I think Second Life continues to be a wonderful virtual place to interact with people from all over the world. It’s a place to experience their ideas and creativity and to share your own. The ability to create and share all forms of art via Second Life makes it particularly valuable for artists. The ability to develop close, meaningful friendships with a variety of people from different cultures and backgrounds, makes it priceless.

Hermes: How do you see the future of Second Life in this so strange and challenging reality of the real world in 2024?

Ilyra: I’m worried about real world events right now, and I sincerely hope that they don’t continue to intensify. And that is really all that I want to say on this topic.

Hermes: Thank you so very much Ilyra to have you again in the pages of FOCUS Magazine, and for this so interesting and pleasant conversation.

^{– Hermes Kondor}