Welcome to my digital portfolio. Click on the blue titles on each post to see images, inspiration, materials and dimensions of each series of work.
In this digital portfolio I provide images of the many different projects I have developed. I approach society and science in a questioning way using sculpture, photography, film and sound. The starting point of much of my work is contemporary society’s relationship with world changing events such as climate change and pandemics – through history and now. The aim has always been to communicate these ideas in the most accessible and humorous way possible. Much of my inspiration comes from the strange forms found under the gaze of the microscope, but the quirkiness and energy of 1960’s design also excites me and I strives to harness this dynamism whilst commenting on our own altered world. This is art that will make you smile and always make you think.
I use hand building techniques to create hollow bodies, spikes and decorations which then emerge as dynamic ceramic sculptures. Materials such as rusty metal wires, coiled telephone wires and found objects are incorporated into my work to enhance the designs.
In 2020 I hand built 130 life size ceramic hands in a work called TERRA FIRMA Leaky Boat which explores our troubled relationship with climate change in the most vivid way. This work can be seen on my YouTube channel
I was the winner of the Victoria & Albert Museum/Morley Gallery Ceramic Prize in 2018, and have sculptures in the Victoria Gallery Liverpool’s Permanent Collection and works on permanent display in the Liverpool University School of Engineering.
Notable exhibitions include the Gordon Pathology Museum, Guy’s Hospital London; the ARB Gallery Cambridge and the World Museum, Liverpool which paved the way for exhibition at ARTBOX, Basel, Switzerland. I have also exhibited twice in Athens. Since then I have exhibited in the Science Tent at Glastonbury Festival and in Spitalfields, London, in 2022.
Contacts
Website: helenbirnbaumceramics.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/helenbirnbaumceramics/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelenBirnbaumCeramics/
Twitter: twitter.com/HelenCeramics