Charles Birnbaum graduated Kansas City Art Institute as one of a select group of Ken Ferguson’s “ceramic stars”—artists who questioned the cultural premises and constraints of “craft” by producing postmodern interpretations of ancient Asian forms. After his graduate work at Tyler School of Art, he started sealing, altering and re-contextualized his vessels; eventually began creating abstract porcelain sculptures. What hasn’t changed, however, is Birnbaum's fascination with the visual and narrative power of pattern and form. Today, he lives and work in New York City, creating one-of-a-kind gallery and commissioned pieces. Birnbaum's sculptures have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the U.S. and abroad and they are in multiple and private collections, including those of the famed textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen, design world luminary Hilda Longinotti, renowned editor of American Ceramics Ronald Kuchta, Longhouse Reserve, the Kapfenberg Cultural Center of Austria, and the Museum of Modern Ceramic Art in Mino, Japan. His recent series of wall installations have been very well-received, and I’m currently creating a large site-specific wall piece composed of multiple porcelain sculptures.