GODLING; or, I came all the way to Bushwick and all I got was this lousy apotheosis

    This past week, the miniature/diorama art show GODLING went up at Selva, a gallery/cafe/bar in Brooklyn. Created by Joe Aquilina, Shane Brockway, and Martin McCoy GODLING featured work from a bunch of the heavy hitters in the indie/weirdo/grimdark/inq28 scene.   

    The show was also a game; you were prompted to create a character of a nascent god, and each piece embodied a scenario your godling witnesses and must choose whether or not, and how, to intercede Resolved mostly through dice rolls, each piece's associated scenario had the chance to shape your godling's character through a handful of stats and traits.

GODLING at Selva

    Engaging with the playable element of the show wasn't required to appreciate the pieces on display, but this context is really important to what made these works and this show special. The art that comes out of the indie tabletop games and miniature hobby scenes isn't usually considered worthy of display in galleries. In fact I'd wager it's rarely ever considered for something like this. Most people can recognize that a well painted mini or diorama displays artistic skill but those miniatures and pieces of terrain have specific utility, and are engaged with in a way that fine art, the kind of work you'd typically expect to find in a gallery in Bushwick, usually isn't. 

    My ideal place to engage with the art coming out of this scene is at a table with some good friends, be it in my basement or the local gaming cafe or a convention. Hopefully some people who have never had those experiences will get to check out GODLING and get a glimpse into the scenes and art movements that it draws from. That said, it was really special to see work that most of the community only gets to experience through Instagram in person, well lit and hung at eye level. I hope there are more of these! 

    For more (and better!) thoughts about GODLING and the artistic trajectory of the freaky little war doll scene, check out Episode 126 of Dragged Into Turbolasers, a miniature wargaming podcast from the people behind the blog Between the Bolter and Me. 

    Now, a closer look at some of the pieces that spoke most strongly to me.

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In Defense of Innocence by Mike DeBolt

    The strength of this piece is in the ensemble; each figure is adding so much emotion and energy to the narrative. I kept coming back to it an discovering new things to love. I think the guy looking down at the crossbow bolt in his chest is my favorite part, but every mini is extremely well painted and the composition is perfect. 

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Corpse World by Jon Ninas

    I admit, I was surprised to see work by @ninj0n in this show, as he's not an artist I'd usually put in the same bucket as the rest of the folks who had pieces there, but this is undeniably beautiful and it nailed the GODLING vibe. The super high effort competition painting style isn't something I have a ton of interest in pursuing, but it's quite striking to view up close and in person. 

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God is on our side by Gage Bridgeman

    Maybe the only overtly 40k themed piece in the show, but it fit the theme like a glove. I love the contrast of the single, polished Chaos star against the rusting, anonymous panels in the Imperial chapel. I think most people would have chosen an aquila as the symbol of imperial worship, but I think the choice of portraying the imperial religion in practice as taking place inside an inscrutable, enveloping machine of questionable function is more interesting

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Of one mysterious household by Witty Volkova

    This piece hooks you with the foregrounded characters and once it has you forces you to trace the looping umbilicals in the background. Really expert uses of contrast here in both tone and texture, between the environment and the characters, and how the composition guides your eye through the diorama, down a impossibly distended flesh tube, in such a way as to inspire maximum dread. The couple of diorama I've done were designed toe be viewed sitting on a table, but this piece makes me want to explore more of what's possible with wall mounting.

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Cathedral of Eyes and Ears by Nick Borelli 

    My favorite thing about this one is how it plays with the distinction between a mini and a piece of terrain. It's using shapes from cave formations, but the placement of the eyes and ears can turn what was just a rock into a sloping forehead or a recessed chin. The implied depth is fantastic too; it's not as easy (for me) to capture photographically but the bright titanium whites of the eyes peering out of the darkness really make it seem like it keeps going far past the wall it's mounted on. 

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Godling by Eli

    Eli embodies one of the best artist archetypes: an extremely sweet, open person who makes terminally fucked art. In a scene where the vast majority of characters are soldiers, zealots, demons, or other embodiments of violence and domination, Eli's work often portrays the wretched or pathetic but never without an element of sympathy. This piece, one of the largest in the show, was broken into floors, most of which could be viewed from multiple angles. The use of integrated lighting and transparent pieces added a lot to the experience, making me feel like I had become privy to dark and disturbing secrets as each new facet was perceived, barely, through tangles of wire emerging from human mouths and gaps in rusted chicken wire.

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Le Dépôt (the Repository) by B. Roussel

    This piece made me think about the meditative aspects of the hobby, and how I can often find a kind of tranquility in a repeated task painting or modeling the same things over and over. This is another one that really guides your attention through it, following the carved steps down the wall of soul vessels to the desperate scene at the bottom. The characterization of the two figures is so strong, with the placement and posing leaving no questions as to where the power lies.

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Thoughts Form Thought Forms by Isaac Tobin

    

        Isaac's piece was my favorite of the show and a real eye catcher even in a gallery full of exceptional work. I took a lot of pictures of this one, here are some reasons I love it

• The way the warm colors draw the eye and set off the silhouette of the thought form
• Actually all of the color choices, especially the little pop of orange on the mini's shoulder amor
• The way the character and thought form relate to one another, with the face of the humanoid totally obscured by a bulbous, impersonal helmet contrasting against several partial faces or other anatomical bits present on the thought form, including what looks like some of Isaac's signature navigator busts
• The huge block dominating the thought form's "prow" which doesn't seem like it should work from a compositional standpoint but just does, somehow (it's because the dude is a master, that's how)
• The base! You can't see it very well in my photos but go check out Isaac's instagram, it has some wonderful little greebles and textures on it.

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    That's all for now. I've got one more week of sabbatical from the day job while we finish Trellis and GODLING was the perfect shot of inspirado to power me through this last stretch. Not much time for hobbying but working on a small BLAME! inspired piece when I find a couple free minutes. 

    Be well.