Mareea Farrasco logged into Second Life for the first time on 12/31/2009.

Life without art for her would be like imagining the beauty of nature without the power or gentleness of words.

Mareea finds her inspiration in small, insignificant things or breath-taking landscapes, from the colors of the sky and the water, from other works of art, or from the outside world as well as from her inner universe…

The inspiration awakens for Mareea like an urgent need to express something, without any preparation in advance. Her photography is mostly about the outside world, that can be full of joy, or just gray like a gray day, sometimes even dark, when a black clouds covers her “soul landscape” with fear.

She is very grateful and humble human, thankfully for everything she has and for everything she gets from others and above all she is grateful for everything she can personally give to the world she lives in.

Her home in SL are – Imago Land and Art Galleries, where she lives out her love for decorating, photography and where she opens a spaces for other artists.

Moved by the great artistic values of mankind, as well as countless artists and works of art that have shaped her whole life, she dives into the “rainbow of beauty” whenever she can.

Since childhood she has participated in children’s performances, played the piano and singing and dancing, as well as literature and poetry have had a special place in her life.

With the hope that she can reach the heart or mind of others, and strongly driven by deep love for all the amazing things that surround her both in SL and RL, like nature and culture, she wants to contribute to this beauty *of being*.

I would like to use the word “dulcet” to describe my experience with Mareea.

Her personality always leaves me with a sweet and pleasant feeling.

I always see her acting happily in the background, and I witness someone who appreciates the things she loves and does, with her personality and photographic works she manages to win our hearts and inspire us with an ease.

My heartfelt thanks for our creative and truly art full friendship, dear Mareea.

Mareea,

Your life without art would be …

Mareea: I can’t imagine my SL or RL life without art (not that I’d be a RL artist, I am just a consumer of all kind of arts). Life would be an empty space … no colors, no sounds, no joy. It would be like imagining it without the beauty of the nature or without the power or the softness of the words.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Mareea: I don’t know… From small, insignificant things or from large landscapes, from the colors of the sky and the water, from others art works, from the outside world or from my inner universe… Inspiration comes all of a sudden, like an urgent need to express something, without any preparation in advance.

What is your work about?

Mareea: My photos are mostly about the outside world, but visualized through my mind or through my soul. They can be full of joy, in a sunny day, simply gray, like a gray day, when nothing significant happens, or dark, when a black cloud covers with anxiety my “soulscape”. Sometimes I am telling a story, sometimes my eyes discover an object somewhere, put in a certain light, or a face who asks for a portrait. I have to confess though, I’d like to be able to create amazing portraits, but I never really succeeded to make one. There is always something important missing in them…

How is the artistic process like there? Do you see an object / person / landscape first and then the idea comes up? Or is it upside down?

Mareea: Almost every time I start a project trying to materialize a certain idea, things get crazy, going their own way, forcing me to follow their path, not mine. So I usually just let my momentary inspiration take the lead and then see what happens.

Your mantra?

Mareea: I am not sure I have one. Generally I try to avoid truisms. And no words of wisdom of my own:) The most frequent formula I use is, I think, “thank you”. I am grateful for what I have and for what I get from others, or even for what I can give to the small world in which I am living.

Currently, the best place for you in SL?

Mareea: I feel really at home in my sim – IMAGO Land and Art Galleries. I discovered in time my passion for landscaping and decorating and finally I could materialize it here. This is though what we could call a never ending “work in progress”.

A question that moves you right now …

Mareea: Related to the previous sequence of this interview: How could I get more prims for less money ? A rhetoric question, of course. But I think this is one of the main issues for lot of SL builders…
Emotionally, I am moved right now by the spring and its dose of hope, in spite of the anguishing things happening all around us in the real life – the pandemic, the stupidity of this new form of “talibanism” against the great artistic values of the humanity, and I could continue indefinitely…

Is there a work of art in your life that particularly impressed you?

Mareea: Well, I can’t put my finger on one particular work of art. There are so many, in the seven+ art domains, which have marked significantly my entire life, making me who I am today, that it would be unfair to choose one from this “rainbow” of beauty.

What is art for you – now completely independent of the usual definitions?

Mareea: Art is a space to live in, a thin air to breath easily, a flow, a tide, an every day’s bread, milk and honey… and I could go like this on and on ….

Was there a key experience or has the artist profession always been your dearest wish?

Mareea: A wish, since I was a kid. I used to play the piano, I was “directing” kid shows in the courtyard of our home, I was singing and dancing like crazy all day long during the summer vacations … All that turned, in time, into something less artistic, but related to art, literature, poetry.
Oh, and here is another confession: I am a lousy RL photographer.

What drives you?

Mareea: The deep love for all the amazing things surrounding both my SL and RL, like nature and culture. The wish to add my small contribution to this beauty.

Do you feel understood with your art?

Mareea: Mostly yes. But I don’t think this is so important. The joy of sharing makes me continue to take photos, to add to them feelings and thoughts through the shapes, colors, lights and shadows. And hoping that I somehow could get to a few people’s hearts or minds.

Do you think that you can make a difference with your art?

Mareea: We all are different. Everything we do or say expresses who we are. We are looking at the same objects, landscapes, persons, etc., but we see them differently. So yes, from this point of view, we could say my pictures make a difference.
But if we are speaking about creating something revolutionary in art, something that represents a new style, a new artistic direction, something meant to remain in the history of art, well, I hardly dare consider myself an artist.

Do you think that everyone is an artist?

Mareea: No. Real SL artists are not so many. “Artists” like me, you can find them everywhere, in galleries, on Flickr, in magazines, blogs and so on… Some of them good enough, others considering themselves good enough to show their snapshots, sculptures, 3D installations, etc.
SL is a place for everybody, and God, in his magnanimity, let us all take our “artistic” part in this roleplay.

Do you have any role models? If yes, which?

Mareea: Well, I wish I could make pictures in the manner of Vermeer’s or the impressionists masterpieces… But there is always a gap between wishes and reality…

What does the term art mean to you?

Mareea: There are a lot of dictionary definitions of art, none of them totally satisfying. “Art” is one of those so called “vague terms”, redefined periodically, in this collective effort to precise it’s senses.
My subjective definition of the term, you have it already in a previous section of the interview.

Are there any topics that you are particularly interested in implementing?

Mareea: No, not necessarily. For me topics come and go depending on the flow of the momentary inspiration.

What is your strength?

Mareea: Perseverance (one might call it “stubbornness”, without being in a huge error), facility and rapidity in working (which can cause damages concerning the accuracy of what I am producing). So my strengths are accompanied by the correspondent weaknesses, in a precarious balance…

What was the best advice you have ever received in SL?

Mareea: I think it was, some years ago : “Learn and refine your English, darling !” I am still working on it…

Your next projects, exhibitions. Where your art can be seen?

Mareea: IMAGO Art Gallery & new upcoming exhibition “Miscellaneous” at the Konect Art Gallery on 16th October

Mareea Farrasco Bio

“I’m a SL photographer and the owner of IMAGO Land and IMAGO Art Galleries, a Nature, Art & Culture area open for visitors who love to explore, relax, take photos or admire the highly talented artists works displayed in the galleries.

In my long SL existence (“birthday” – 12/31/2009), I pursued my own photographer carrier, exposing my pictures in several art galleries, The Eye, Club LA Gallery, DIX MIX Gallery, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, ArtCare Gallery, Hoot Suite Art Gallery among them, and hosted, as owner and curator of IMAGO galleries an important number of exhibitions, collective ones like for instance “Furillen at its best”, or “Happy days at NorderNey”, and a lot of individual ones.

My photography covers a large field, from portraits to landscapes, from concrete to metaphoric images, from narrative scenes to still life pictures.
Pastel colors are my favorites, expressions of a nostalgic painterly mood. But sometimes I add some color accents or, on a contrary, some dark shades and shadows, showing joy or fears, related to my feelings of the moment.
The pictures I create are small steps in the indefinite journey to myself, in the middle of the noisy yet amazing Second Life.”

Mareea

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