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Adam Birch is a Cape Town-based sculptor and arborist, whose fascination and experience with timber as a medium is multi-faceted.
From the unique forms and wood grain of each tree, Birch carves functional pieces of sculpture, most often transforming the discarded forks of trees into sensuously curved seats.
Born in 1976 near Johannesburg, he grew up on a large farm in the Cape Winelands, where his love of trees began as a child playing in its forests. He graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 2000 with a fine art degree majoring in applied graphics, but always dreamed of becoming a full-time sculptor. An apprenticeship as a tree climber led to his own tree surgery company and a ready supply of raw material. As he worked with the difficult, often dangerous, sections of trees that needed to be removed, he saw essential forms emerge and began to design and sculpt functional works of art.
A passionate environmentalist, Birch cuts down only alien tree species and uses indigenous wood only from trees that have already fallen. Once a tree is felled, he takes a trunk-to-twig approach to utilising the timber, sawing it into planks, floorboards, structural beams and firewood until only the fork remains. This is the part of the tree that carpenters usually discard because the dense, twisted grain is difficult to cut. But in a tree’s anatomy, this juncture is a key point determining its stability; it holds a charged energy that he heightens by scooping out sections and further animating others. The natural shape of each piece informs the sculptural approach, and although the end result is refined and sophisticated, the essence of the individual tree is still present.
Birch held his first solo exhibition, Bifurcation, at Southern Guild in 2018, followed by Phoenix in 2021 and a collaboration with Porky Hefer to create timber sculptures for his 2023 solo, Volume IV. Chaos Calamus – Interspecies Reciprocal Altruism. Like Something Almost Being Said, his second major solo with the gallery, was held in 2024. Southern Guild has presented Birch’s work in numerous group exhibitions and at international fairs such as Design Miami and The Salon Art + Design in New York.
In 2020, Birch created more than 150 large-scale timber sculptures for Xigera Safari Lodge in the Okavango Delta. Carved from fallen trees on site, the collection of sensuously curved wishbone-shaped seats, pedestals, benches and side tables is the largest project the sculptor has worked on during his 20-year-long career.
Adam Birch
Cape Town 6 Jun - 22 Aug 2024
Group Exhibition
Los Angeles 22 Feb - 4 May 2024
Group show
Cape Town 19 Mar - 30 Jul 2023
Group Show
Cape Town 13 Apr - 15 Jun 2022
Adam Birch
Cape Town 11 Dec - 18 Mar 2022
Group show
Cape Town 29 Oct - 4 Dec 2020
Group show
Cape Town 9 Apr - 7 May 2020
Group show
Cape Town 26 Nov - 7 Feb 2019
10 Questions With... Sculptor Adam Birch
Interior Design, September 2024
Sculpting Diverse Cultural Narratives
VISI, June 2024
Adam Birch, Cheick Diallo, Porky Hefer & Stanislaw Trzebinski in Modern Luxe
Modern Luxe, October 2022
Southern Guild Cape Town opens a trio of shows with Adam Birch, King Houndekpinkou, and Madoda Fani, exhibiting sculptures of ceramic and wood
Designboom, July 2024
LA Style: An inside look at at the city's expanding design world
Design Miami/, March 2024