Christopher Robertson

Born in 1957, Christopher Robertson spent his formative years in Norseman, Western Australia. It is an area noted for its biodiversity and includes unique species of eucalypts, numerous vast salt lakes and a shrubby form of a beautifully patterned, carpet - like landscape. As a formative experience it continues to profoundly affect his artistic practice. 

In 1982 he gained entry and completed a Degree in Craft with distinction working in Furniture and Jewellery at Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University of Technology) studying under Associate Professor, David Walker. In 1986 he completed a Masters Degree in Furniture Design at the prestigious Royal College of Art London under Professor Floris van den Broecke. In 2017 he graduated with a PhD. from the Australian National University, his thesis ‘From Ruskin to Aalto: Prophets with a message’ was supervised by Professor Paul Pickering and Associate Professor Johannes Kuhnen.

Christopher’s Masters work received a double page inclusion in the 1987/88 International Design Yearbook and the work led to an unprecedented invitation from the Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina to work at their research centre in Milan, Italy in 1986. He was awarded the Grand Prize in The International Cutlery Design competition in Japan in 1992, and furniture, jewellery and metalwork has been included in major Australian public collections including The National Gallery of Australia. Work has been chosen for three major international surveys shown in Australia, including ‘Transformations; the Language of Craft’ at The National Gallery of Australia in 2005. 

Christopher’s research in furniture, metalwork and jewellery examines meaning through relationships, often with the use of metaphors to explore place, knowing and being.

Photo: The Robertsons Photography