designers

Robert Foster trained in traditional silversmithing at the Canberra School of Art in Australia, and has successfully worked as a designer and maker of unique functional objects for the past twenty one years. Foster’s craftsmanship is deeply rooted in a highly developed sense of aesthetics and technical proficiency.

Foster works predominantly in hollowware, sculptural lighting, and furniture, and his work is held by all of the major institutions in Australia including collections at the Australian National Gallery and the Australian Parliament House. In addition, he has had significant exposure overseas with several major exhibitions in Germany, including a travelling exhibitions with Michael Rowe and Werner Bunck. He also has pieces in notable overseas collections such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Museum fur Kunst and Gewerbe in Germany, as well as in several international private collections.

Foster brings to his work the combination of the natural inquisitiveness of an engineer with the creativity of a designer. Working primarily with aluminium, titanium and stainless steel, he combines such untraditional alloys with other materials as diverse as plastics, stone, ceramics, glass and on the odd occasion, unusual objects like snooker balls. Foster has recently gone back to exploring new methods of working with silver and the results are both extraordinary and beautiful. His diverse understanding of process and his constant need to challenge visual language have made him on of the most notable contemporary designer makers.