In the Transgender Bestiary I want to take the bestiary on a journey into ceramic and create a modern bestiary in celebration of LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) icons. This work is a fusion of ancient and modern from heraldry, myths and my own imagination. Since the 1960’s medicine and psychiatry has been trying to define transsexual people (and other who are gender atypical) using terms such as heterosexual, homosexual, transgender based on a person’s sex assignment at birth. But if we want to move beyond the constraints of the body we need to change our language and art in order to do so. Transgender Bestiary is a celebration in ceramic and mixed media. I created this trio of transgender animals a few years’ ago; these animals were my first attempt at communicating ideas about transgender and are simply defined as having both female and male characteristics. The creatures are joyful celebrations of character types; the lion is dignified and powerful, the kangaroo happily reclines under a metal parasol. and the ape imprisoned by society's reactions. All of the animals are manacled in gold leaf handcuffs to suggest society’s sometimes confused response to other sexualities other than the heteronormative. The animals are allowed to be golden, but contained for their safety from public censure.
Helen Birnbaum is an artist who approaches society and science in a questioning way using sculpture, photography, film and sound. The starting point of much of her work is contemporary society’s relationship with world changing events such as climate change, new technologies and pandemics – through history and now. The aim has always been to communicate these ideas in the most accessible and humorous way possible. Some of her inspiration comes from the strange forms found under the gaze of the microscope, but the quirkiness and energy of 1960’s design also excites her and she strives to harness this dynamism whilst commenting on our own altered world.
Birnbaum uses hand building techniques to create hollow bodies, spikes and decorations to add to these dynamic pieces. Materials such as rusty metal wires, coiled telephone wires and found objects are incorporated into her work to enhance the designs. She has recently been integrating digital devices into her sculpture; sound, touch and vision now sit together widening the viewer’s experience. This is exciting art that will make you smile and always make you think.
In 2020 she hand built 130 life size ceramic hands in a work called TERRA FIRMA Leaky Boat which explore the eco-refugee crisis in the most vivid way. This work can be seen on her YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfhzdgwq3u0
Helen Birnbaum was the winner of the Victoria & Albert Museum/Morley Gallery Ceramic Prize in 2018. She has 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 paving the way for exhibition at ARTBOX, Basel, Switzerland. She has also exhibited twice in Athens. Since then she has exhibited at Glastonbury Festival and in Spitalfields, London, in 2022.
Website: https://helenbirnbaumceramics.com
Second website: https://significantbunchofviruses.wordpress.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/helenbirnbaumceramics
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helen.birnbaum.940/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/helenceramics
Audio/Video links
TERRA FIRMA Leaky Boat, YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfhzdgwq3u0
The audio/video/QR code link to all four works in the CERAMIC TRANSIMISSION Series are shown here : ceramictransmission.wordpress.com/category/ceramic-transmission-phase-1-disease/ JudgmentSound scape:
SEE SOUNDSCAPE FOR:
1.DIVINE JUDGEMENT: https:credit Jade Brown
This rhyme was written about the Black Death.
2. BAD AIR Soundscape: credit Soundliketube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdV16Fv-A9k
3.. GERM THEORY: credit Motion Array
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I49LYnjZOis
4. WEB OF CAUSATION Soundscape: credit Maldera Film
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDsghV7G3ko
