Kayly Iali is an artist and the owner / curator of i4 Galleries of Art. A suite of four gallery spaces within the Port Lydius region, i4 Galleries occupies the same quarter of the region’s sky space as Lusus Saule, whose work I also recently reviewed.

February saw the start of four new exhibits at i4 Galleries, three of which sit within the abstract school, while the fourth presents an delight take on the idea of vintage postcards.

I’ve encountered the work of JudiLynn India previously in SL, and have always been struck by her bold use of colour and materials. An artist working in acrylics and digital art in the physical world, JudiLynn here presents 14 striking pieces of her art which demonstrate her work to its fullest advantage.

The large format in which the works are presented allows the rich detail in each, including the texturing apparent within it, to be clearly seen, adding to their vibrant look and feel. number also exhibit a rich, dynamic energy in both the use of colour and line; there is a sense of power and movement within them, while other are more restful in nature, presenting a calming influence whilst retaining a strong use of form and colour.

A former graphic artist working in advertising, Ieko Catnip switched to painting some 20 years ago, inspired by the work of Zao-Wou-Ki, Pierre Soulages, Antoni Tàpies and Hans Hartung. She specialises in lyric abstraction and has her own contemporary art gallery in SL.

The fifteen pieces displayed here are of similar large format presentation to JudiLynn, which again allows the riches and dynamism of each item to be shown to its fullest.

Also, as with JudiLynn’s work, there is a striking dynamism to the pieces on display, although one somewhat different in nature. The shapes within several of the pieces are far more anthropomorphic in nature, more suggestive of the human form in motion, while in others there is sense of movement and form which might suggest a ship in a storm or lily pads on the water.

Vonnie the Fox is a relative newcomer to Second Life. An artist in the physical world, the exhibition at i4 Galleries marking the first public display of her work. She sees SL as a means of exploring and experimenting with digital art and expression, listing both SL art and building as two of her interests.

Here she takes an interesting approach to abstract works, presenting a series of colour images of scenes in Second Life shot through the medium of Linden Water. This gives the pieces a rather unique sense of motion / distortion, while the use of bright colours, either within the subjects of the pieces or through the selection of windlights, leads to a set of highly individual pieces. Don’t forget to check his Flickr stream, either.

The final exhibit in this quartet steps away from abstract foundations and is, perhaps, the most interesting in both idea and format – and one which offers a unique way of showing appreciation to a friend.

David Peyton works mostly in photography and mixed media, and his exhibit at i4 combines both to present a series of vintage postcards featuring a range of sights from around Second Life

Not only is a delightful series of postcards offered for admiration and (like the works in the other three exhibits) also for sale, it is presented with a wonderful dash of humour through the Kisses on a Postcard element of the display, which feature imagined missives from the likes of Napoleon to Josephine or Georgia O’Keeffe to Alfred Stieglitz, and others. What’s more, David also offers a special service: select a postcard, pen your own message and David will supply you with a set of 20 individually numbered postcards you can send to friends in SL.

As an added bonus, once you’ve toured the main gallery spaces, you can also teleport to the Skyloft (ou can also reach it via the teleport board at the gallery landing point). Here you’ll find Kayly’s own work on display, a beautiful mix of abstract and still life work, presented in an ambient environment that really shows them to their best advantage, making it easy to see any of the pieces displayed on a wall in your own home.

All four exhibits in the main gallery spaces will be open through until April 2015. Given their proximity to one another (The Vonnie the Fox and David Peyton exhibitions are just around the corner to Judilynn India and Ieko Catnip), they can be enjoyed together. This is something especially worthwhile given the abstract theme carried within three of them, while David’s exhibit offers a unique and charming approach to art in SL. A trip to Kayly’s skyloft will also round-out any visit perfectly.

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