Binnie Birstein
C W O S ARTIST
Other media: Printmaking
Tags : painting, encaustic, powerful, energy, vibrant
Erector Square
315 Peck Street
Building 6 EAST, 1st floor
New Haven, CT 06511
Neighborhood : New Haven: Erector Square
Email: binnie (dot) birstein (at) gmail (dot) com
Website: http://binniebirstein.com
Artist Statement
This current body of work is all about energy and spatial ambiguity. In most of the works, a central spiral is set against a grid, and within that format, reality is distorted, space is imagined or concealed, and objects emerge, only to get caught up in the tumultuous, whirling action of that spiral which sometimes even takes over the grid. The contest between figure and ground results in amorphous shapes layered with vibrant, exuberant colors that possess strangely beautiful power and energy.
Strong physical elements in the paintings come from the intensity with which I work the medium by layering, cutting in, scraping, and manipulating the images with ink, oilstick, pencil, graphite, and tools to make marks in the wax and express feelings that motivate me. Although these works may incorporate a geometric framework, expressiveness becomes the ultimate driver of the compositions, one mark or layer leading to another and creating the sensations of movement, progression and dissonance.
Selected Works
|  untitled - 2012 - encaustic collagraph on asian paper with encaustic - 25 x 17"  related to joy - 2011 - encautic collagraph on paper - 29.5 x 22.5  CA #9 - 2010 - encaustic monotype on stonehenge - 12.5 x 9.75  CA #13 - 2010 - encaustic monotype collage - 12.5 x 9.75  CA#5 - 2010 - double sided encaustic monotype on asian paper - 9.5 x 6.5"  CA#6 - 2010 - encaustic monotype, graphite on paper - 12.25 x 9.75"  CA #8 - 2010 - encaustic monotype, graphite on paper - 13.75 x 10"  CA#12 - 2010 - double sided encaustic monotype on asian paper - 12.25 x 9.25"  CA-double - 2010 - double sided encaustic monotype on asian paper - 9.5 x 6.5"  CA#1 - 2010 - encaustic monotype, graphite on paper - 15 x 11.25 |
Artist Bio
Binnie Birstein is an award-winning artist originally from New York City. Among her many awards was Best in Show by Ann Temkin in “Art of the Northeast” at Silvermine Guild in 2002, first prize in “Thinking in Wax” juried by Joanne Mattera, honorable mention in "Particular Places" curated by Bernard Chaet. She has shown throughout the country, extensively in the Northeast in many prestigious exhibitions and invitationals including: Silvermine, The Chautauqua National, Everson Biennial, Barnum Festival at the Discovery Museum, Salem State College, SUNY Brockport, Fingerlakes, and “Gaining Your Voice Through the Arts” at the Greenwich Arts Council, which she also curated another year. Her work is in numerous private as well as corporate collections, including SUNY Brockport, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, R. D. Weis & Company.
She is a faculty member at Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven. She participated in all of the International Encaustic Conferences as a presenter and teacher.