Robert Baines | Living Treasure

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Robert Baines is one of Australia’s foremost artist goldsmiths and a researcher of archaeometallurgy and Bronze Age gold works. With a career spanning more than 30 years, his work is based around the historical context of jewellery, often referencing notions of the fake, the phony and the copy that have been part of jewellery making and collecting throughout the ages.

Baines created jewellery and large, complex wire works often combining precious metals of gold and silver with plastic and powder-coated elements. These works frequently reference archaeology and draw on abstract forms and ideas. In this exhibition, Baines places the object in a state of limbo where the date of its making, and its authenticity, are questionable