Charles Birnbaum

My sculptures have a distinctly primordial origin and evoke the Baroque, but in a wilder more animal way. I push at boundaries, exploring places where the forms beckon the beholders and animate the work. My art challenges people’s predicable classifications, making them “work” to question and expand their unconscious responses and have a richer aesthetic experience. I delve into a deeper understanding of Carl Jung’s theories of archetypes and the balance of opposing sexual character traits. The dead bone-white surfaces and the patterns undulate across the organic forms accentuating tension, creating visual and tactile dissonances and inviting viewers to engage actively with the work.

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My photographs explore the liminal space between clarity and ambiguity, a boundless transcendent essence that is both settled and unfathomable. My goal is to raise unresolved questions leading the viewer to closely examine the images and attempt to discern the indeterminate; to find the details that leap out and prick the viewer with a strange and often inexplicable emotion.