Station 16 Gallery is currently hosting Sweet Dreams, a solo exhibition by contemporary artist Abigail Goldman highlighting a selection of her miniature murder scenes. Created at a scale of 1:87, Goldman's die-o-ramas present intricately gruesome crime scenes and violent acts. Having worked many years as a reporter and investigator for the Federal Public Defender in Las Vegas, Goldman draws on her work experience to create pieces that put an interesting spin on society’s fascination with crime.
In an interview from our website last year, Goldman explained: "I was drawn to reporting and investigating because of my lifelong interest in crime and bad behavior. Observing and working in the legal system gave me sideline access to the fascinating, fluid dynamics of crime – and crime can tap into everything: misery, love, malice, sex, grief, humor, humanity and inhumanity, life and death. I try to imbue all my work with that mortal mix, in miniature."
Goldman's die-o-ramas range in size from just a couple of inches to three feet long, although the scale remains the same, meaning that one foot in the real world works out to be 3.55 mm in the artwork. The figures are all less than an inch tall, she explains "The figures are actually model railroad figures - I just maim them.”
The pieces inevitably evoke curiosity in the viewer and an equal sense of revulsion at the subject matter, however, they are created with an elegant twist of humor - you can't help but marvel at them.
