THESE GALLERIES DOCUMENT a number of my artistic explorations, spanning many years, all related to portrait silhouettes in some form or other. Many works are available to collectors, either framed or unframed, signed and authenticated as an original work of art by Charles Burns.
Each series either explores the genre of silhouettes, through different materials and techniques, or uses techniques learned from the making of silhouettes to explore wider subject matter. From portraits built in string to paper cuttings, profile drawings and landscape studies, the work shown here extends my art practice as a silhouettist, rather than being separate from it.
To enquire about a specific piece or arrange a studio visit, please get in touch.
Charles Burns, artist.
Inksketch Paper Cuttings 2026
Paper cuttings of figures in motion based on ink sketches in a small sketchbook.
Rakugo Paper Cuttings 2024–2025
Cut-paper images created from a series of pencil sketches at a theatre in Tokyo.
Profile Web Drawings 2023–2024
Large, straight-line drawings created a silhouette. Studies for string sculpture.
Silhouettes in String 2022–2023
Portraits created by fixing many tight threads tangential to a profile.
Tangential Profiles 2022
Watercolours created by filling in the spaces between lines of the profile.
Masked Paper Cuttings 2021
A series of cut-paper portraits exploring the effect of masks on the human face.
Figures in Motion 2021
Exploring moving silhouettes against urban-sketched, sharpie backgrounds.
Poetry Paper Cuttings 2019–20
Exploring the relationship between poetry, typography and the profile.
Photographic Silhouettes 2019
Black & white photos placed inside cut silhouettes of the same person.
Rubbish Silhouettes 2019
A commentary on litter combining rubbish, landscape and silhouettes.
Internal Landscapes 2018
Large oil paintings with local Berkshire landscapes inside a series of silhouettes.
Life Drawings 2000–2018
Life drawing created in Mays Barn studio over many years.
Hollow-Cut Life Studies 2013
Paper-cut figures with hair and other background details added in pencil.
Landscape Oil Studies 2010–2013
Series of small-scale landscape studies in oil and graphite painted outdoors.
Life Oil Studies 2008–2011
Series of small-scale life studies in oil and graphite, painted in the life room.
Landscape Sketches 2010
Sketches from Clayfield Copse in line and watercolour.
