Saoirse reviews Gallery Sanguine:

Entry to gallery stylish a bottle of wine, visitor counter and a fresh copy of Sanguine Dictorem magazine.  When you enter there are stairs to either side, on the right it leads up to a fractal installation the left is not yet open.  There is a wealth of interesting, captivating and diverse pictures here and I will mention a few though honestly I would have a hard time picking a favorite.

The main floor is circled by landscape pictures of stark SL views, the clarity and richness of the landscapes is easy to see both from a distance and up close to the pictures.  I felt a freedom looking into each one, crisp and unobstructed by distraction.  The artist, Donatella Mitchell, placed some pictures of a sail boat on the back wall, one had an airplane crash in the left area.  SL art at it’s finest, these looked as vivid as any rendering in rl.  A sunset, the sailboat up close for us to view, then further back an appreciation for water details.  The main floor opens to a mezzanine level where the artist has strategically places a series of self portraits capturing the lighting and many of the effects unique to SL photography.  Set in the center of the room are displays of her three panel work.  These range from surreal to landscape and even texture.  One I took particular notice of was a three panel animal texture [‘Animalized’] of leopard, tiger and zebra.  The different skins are quite eye catching in this panel, the patterns of spotted and different directional lines will draw your eyes to this piece.  There is also a three panel of the forest with sunlight cascading through from above titled ‘Fantasia’.  With the lighting effect the view is very 3D within this 2D medium almost as if you could walk into this lovely forest straight away.

Walk up the stairway that is not roped off and you will find a fractal art installation.  The artist placed a particularly beautiful piece at the beginning titled ‘Tranquility’.  This picture displays the Fibonacci sequence in a bejeweled appearing spiral.  The branches from the main sequence line are white and then black in a almost spectral quality  This is presented on a light to dark background and it is simply spellbinding.  It is so amazing that those working with the Fibonacci sequence and fractals originated from a young man in Pisa in the year 1202 rl.  The is the thing about art though isn’t it?  Richness of history and influence brought with the current day.

     The pieces in this fractal portion of the gallery deliver on the creative promise the artist reveals in their names, such as ‘Sea of Madness’, ‘Spiral Velocity’, ‘Psionic’, ‘Maelstrom’ and ‘Red Density’ to name a few.  Standing at each one, I spent a few moments giving myself to the colors as each broke into their design.  For each piece I could find that something that made it special to me.  ‘Electro Violence’ is one I will mention here.  There is stark contrast between the trail flowing down the center and the colors on each side.  This jagged trail is all things; lightning, crack in reality, or perhaps a view from space of a river on another planet.  ‘Dark Cavern’ cylindrical design looks as if it is descending into one of those multi-diminsional universes with swirls of pink at the top of each line inward.

     Leaving this part of the installation we pass something we passed on the way up that I waited to mention.  A picture on near each staircase, one a man and one a woman, both influenced in style by Andy Warhol’s famous silkscreen images.  Most well know of Warhol’s is perhaps his Marilyn Monroe silkscreens.  The artist also has a piece on display with the three panel portion of the gallery that is very reminiscent of the Vincent Van Gogh’s art with seemingly heavy brush strokes in a dark bold background.  Titled ‘Nightlife’ I don’t believe anyone familiar with Van Gogh’s Starry Night will be anything but delighted by this superb piece.

      Take a friend or wander on your own, but do visit this installation.  The pieces are diverse and well done, you might even take one home  for yourself.  Artfully yours, Saoirse Heart