Design Photography

#Aleia Murawski #dioramas #miniature #Sam Copeland #snails

It’s a Snail World After All: Tiny Molluscs Slide Around Town in Nostalgic Miniature Sets

August 29, 2023

Grace Ebert

a snail crawls up to a video store

All images © Aleia Murawski and Sam Copeland, shared with permission

The minuscule worlds designed by Sam Copeland and Aleia Murawski (previously) are just like ours—only a little bit slimier. Creating small, nostalgic dioramas for the past few years, the pair has a robust collection of sets fit for their tiny snail pals. The mollusks are caught slithering up to a video rental spot to browse horror films like The Snexorcist and Shellraiser, taking a snooze at their office job, and giving themselves a pep talk in the pink-tiled bathroom of a dive bar. Puns and adorable miniature renditions of common objects like a bulky desktop computer and bottles of nail polish fill the scenes, which feel like they’re plucked straight from the 90s.

Copeland and Murawski will have work in a group exhibition opening September 30 at Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California, and have a follow-up to their book, Snail World: Life in the Slimelight, slated for publishing in 2024 by Broccoli. They’re currently in progress on a few video projects, which you can find on Instagram.

 

A snail browses tiny movies

Four images, from top left, three snails are contestants on the dating game, a snail rides a train, a snail sits at its desk at an office, and two snails enter a photo booth

Two snails sit on pink chairs in a nail salon

Two images, from left, a snail slides up to a bar called the meltdown, a snail peers in the mirror o fa bathroom

A snail sits on a barstool with a pool table in the foreground

Two images, from left, a snail peers in the mirror over a pink vanity, and a snail sits on a chair in a dentist's office

Two snails sit at a nail salon table

#Aleia Murawski #dioramas #miniature #Sam Copeland #snails

 

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