With a selective library of forms – tri-legged, squat or tall vessels; solid, chunky, chains, ‘blobs’ reminiscent of fungi, stones – Peter brings decades of technical mastery and intuition to bear, making each new work entirely unique. Sometimes painstakingly building up a complex internal structure through which a molten metal outer skin will flow, sometimes working directly with prepared moulds, he results of these lost wax castings reveal the characteristics of metal in an entirely fresh way.

Gold, bronze, silver, copper, brass, zinc and more are poured together or consecutively, occasionally pushing beyond the physical limits of a particular metal. The unpredictability is key; happy accidents in the forms of cracks and holes may be left as is or treated with a subsequent cast. The way these alloys interact – the topographies, rivers, deltas and deserts that appear like miniature continents being born in a moment – have made Bauhuis one of the most innovative and respected metalsmiths in the world.

Dr Warren Feeney says of this process, “it is ‘contemporary’ in attitude and in the best traditions of the European avant- garde in the early 20th century, being about ‘risk taking’ and chance. Bauhuis considers an accident or unexpected outcome in the making process, such as breaks, holes or cracks in the object s a given and an essential aspect of the casting process. A ‘mistake’ is a fortunate accident to be accepted and fissures on surfaces act as evidence of the artist’s hand in the process of making and a mark of his consideration of materials.”

Peter Bauhuis was the recipient, in 2020, of the Danner Foundation Prize of Honour in Munich and the 2018 Schoonhoven Silver Award in the Netherlands. He was shortlisted for the Loewe Prize in 2021 and was a judge for the Award in 2022. In 2013 he won the 17th Silver Triennial in Hanau and became artist in residence at Artkommunalka Kolomna, Russia, in addition to receiving numerous other awards since graduating from the Staatliche Zeichenakademie Hanau, School for Jewellery Design in 1988.

Following his graduation, Peter completed his Diploma at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1999 and opened a studio in Munich the same year. He has exhibited worldwide and has delivered workshops and keynotes throughout Europe, USA and Australasia. He taught for 10 years at the Alchimia Jewellery School in Florence, becoming a highly influential figure in jewellery education.

Peter’s work is held in public collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Die Neue Sammlung, Munich, the Fonds national d’art contemporain, Paris and the Rotasa Foundation, California.

I see nothing arcane or mysterious in my work, but if some people find some of it enigmatic or inexplicable I could take it as a compliment. Alchemists believed in the connection of things, in taking them apart and putting them together again. This is a thought I find rather appealing as a metaphor. The esoteric part of alchemy is largely overrated.

Peter Bauhuis