emlen.com is the artwork of charles c. emlen

chasemlen@gmail.com
610-348-3956


education

mfa in sculpture, arizona state university, 1984
bfa in sculpture, pennsylvania state university, 1981


Artist Statement

The universe is a vast array of infinite variation. While much of that variation already exists, most of it does not nor ever will exist. Or rather, most of it exists only as having the potential to exist. Imagine that, an infinite supply of unmanifested potential. As humans, we have the unique ability to knowingly create things that were not here before and in doing so are privy to the notion that there is an immense reservoir of things that have not yet nor ever will be seen.

I’m fascinated by systems and technology, the way things work, evolution, massively large numbers, complex algorithms, the human brain, entropy, eternity, language, sex, disease, animals, economies, and the functional aspects of just about every part of this great, big, wonderful thing we call reality. It’s true, most of my work does tend toward the technological, but that’s just the way I choose to communicate. What and how I think is largely based in science. Call it a weakness. I can’t help but see the physical world as an endless field of size, scale, complexity and granularity. The universe is at once infinitely large and infinitely small. From the farthest reaches of the cosmos to the most diminutively infinitesimal corner of sub-atomic space, a diverse complexity reigns.


influences and interests include but are not limited to...

iconography, entropy, claus oldenburg, srl, robert smithson, infiniti, zen/calculi, martin puryear, david therrien, symbolic logic, richard serra, and of course, sub-ethereal decay.