Charles Birnbaum

Charles Birnbaum is a sculptor and a self-taught photographer. He graduated from Kansas City Art Institute where he studied ceramics. After doing graduate work at Tyler School of Art, he began sealing, altering and re-contextualizing vessels forms and then began creating abstract porcelain sculptures. 

He lives and works in New York City, creating one-of-a-kind gallery and commissioned sculptures that have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the U.S. and abroad. He has works in public and private collections through the U.S., Europe, and Asia, some of which include the Kapfenberg Cultural Center of Austria, and the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art in Mino, Japan.

The art of Charles Birnbaum challenges people’s predicable classifications, making them “work” to question and expand their unconscious responses and have a richer aesthetic experience. He delves into a deeper understanding of Carl Jung’s theories of archetypes and the balance of opposing sexual character traits. Besides Jung, the artist also takes inspiration from Ernst Haeckel's Botanical Imagery. He is fascinated with the natural grown forms of those organisms, and attempts to recreate them in his works.

The dead bone-white surfaces and patterns undulate across his organic forms accentuating tension, creating visual and tactile dissonances and inviting viewers to engage actively with the work. The handcrafted textures on the porcelain are truly a marvel.