Robert Baines creates jewellery as well as larger, more complex wire works. These pieces often combine precious materials such as gold and silver combined with plastic components and powdercoat. Some groups play with history others are abstractions not culturally specific.
Professor Dr Robert Baines / Artist biography
Robert Baines is Professor and coordinator of Gold and Silversmithing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He holds a Master of Arts in Classics and Archaeology and his PhD research was The Reconstruction of Historical Jewellery and its Relevance as Contemporary Artefact. His multidisciplinary research is comprised of three areas: as an artist goldsmith, archaeometallurgy and the study of Bronze Age goldworks, and in publishing text and commentary. He is a speaker at many international jewellery events.
Information /
Robert Baines’ work is held in many collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Ville de Cagnes-sur-Mer, France; and the National Gallery of Australia. In 1997, Baines conducted a Senior Fulbright research project at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, followed by three senior research fellowships including two Andrew Mellon Conservation Scholarships. He has won major awards such as the The Seppelt Contemporary Art Award 1998, the Bayerischer Staatpris gold medal (2005) and the Friedrich Becker Prize (2008). Robert Baines is a Living Treasure:Master of Australian Craft.
