ZACHARY KAINZ

Sculpture Faculty

Zachary Kainz is a third-generation sculptor from a family of Austrian stone carvers. After a period of traditional apprenticeship, he studied classical design at Barnstone Studios and figurative sculpture and bronze casting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, under the tutelage of Gary Weisman and Kate Brockman. At the same time, he enhanced his foundational studies at the Schuylkill Academy. In 2007, Kainz became a founding member of Traction Company, a sculpture studio co-op in West Philadelphia. Kainz’s several years of experience in sculpture conservation, working on historic locations such as the grounds of the White House, the Capitol building, and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, has shown him to be a leading advocate for both sculpture preservation and its future. Kainz is currently the head metalsmith at Independent Casting, a fine art foundry in Philadelphia, for which he has worked since 2014. There he builds and manages the construction of sculptures ranging from the monumental to delicate bronze castings, exhibited in blue-chip galleries around the world. His own studio is also on these grounds. In his works, Kainz battles with the classic human paradox: the saga of finding balance between one’s existence as a sophisticated being and as a base creature. His understanding of divine proportion and composition grounds these explorations of the human condition, while his use of light and shadow is a nod to the 19th-century Impressionists. Kainz currently accepts private commissions and is an active exhibitor in Philadelphia and beyond. 

Instagram: @kainzzachary