Robert Baines was born in Australia in 1949. A graduate of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in gold and silversmithing, Baines also holds a Master of Arts in classics and archaeology from Monash University. He also completed a Ph.D at the RMIT in 2006. He has since 1980 been Lecturer at RMIT and is the Coordinator for Gold & Silversmithing, RMIT, School of Art. His work as an exhibiting artist goldsmith, is present in prestigious public collections in Great Britain, Germany, France, New Zealand, and Australia. He has obtained several Major Awards throughout his career, such as the Bayerische Staatpreis 2005 gold medal at the 57th Internationale Handwerksmesse, München, and in Australia, the Cicely and Colin Rigg Craft Award, 1997 (the richest craft prize in Australia) at the National Gallery of Victoria; The Seppelt Contemporary Art Award, 1998 Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. His jewellery has been shown in numerous solo and prestigious group exhibitions on an international level. Robert Baines' multi-disciplinary research concentrates on three main areas: archaeometallurgy, art goldsmithing and publishing text and commentary. To Robert Baines, jewellery is much more than mere adornment. It is a cultural, archaeological and technical document. Materials and methods are but a means of reaching different worlds. His interest in the archaic has lead to his mastering, for the purposes of reproduction, of ancient fabrication techniques. Needless to say, his pieces are conceptually complex and often question current and historical events with a narrative of their own, conveying both a contemporary visual relevance and a restatement of history.

3 pendants, Meaner than Yellow 2002, silver, powder coat
3 brooches, Redline 2003, Whiter than Red 2004, Redline 2005, silver, powder coat