Name/Title
Apologue II: The Birds of ParadiseEntry/Object ID
2025.09.01Description
Emily Jan (b.1977, Los Angeles, California) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans sculpture, installation, illustration, and writing.
Known for her intricately crafted, hyper-realistic environments, Jan creates immersive installations that blend handmade and found flora and fauna into richly layered dioramas. Her primary materials (wool, reed, cloth, silicone, and resin) are transformed into lifelike creatures that evoke both wonder and unease. Though entirely fabricated, these beings are emotionally believable, often mistaken for taxidermy due to their startling realism.
Jan’s sculptural worlds are deeply narrative, mixing high and low culture, science and mythology, and historical references with contemporary concerns. Her installations function like enterable museum displays, inviting viewers into speculative ecosystems that challenge our perceptions of nature, artifice, and truth. In an age marked by ecological collapse and mass extinction, her work offers a poignant meditation on the fragility and beauty of life—both real and imagined.
Jan’s art is driven by a desire to transport viewers—to stretch the boundaries of collective imagination and cultivate empathy for the unseen and the unknown. Her work encourages us to envision places we may never visit, to hold space for them in our minds and hearts, and to consider what it means to be human in a world that is both turbulent and wondrous. Through her sculptural and literary practice, Jan invites us to reimagine our relationship with the natural world and to find beauty in complexity, hybridity, and transformation.Artwork Details
Medium
Recycled textiles, faux flowers, resin, found objectsDimensions
Height
76 cmWidth
101.5 cmDepth
30.5 cm