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Michael Baird

Michael Baird was born in Invercargill, New Zealand in 1963 and works from the Kanimbla Valley in the Blue Mountains area of New South Wales, Australia. Michael Baird has a fascination with the manipulation of materials. He uses metal, timber, resin and painted finishes in his work, exploring two dimensionally in murals and relief work and more recently in three dimensional forms. Michael’s three dimensional pieces demonstrate his skill with metal work, the sculpture often appearing to be floating or weightless, with surprisingly soft forms in defiance of the properties of the medium used. A fine example of this work is the 6000mm x 5000mm 'Dragon' in the Shangri la Hotel foyer in Sydney. After originally studying Graphic Design in Christchurch and freelancing in New Zealand and London, he arrived in Sydney in 1988 and trained in Glass Decoration for several years before leaving Australia for further extensive travel eventually returning again in 1993. Michael then began working for a Sydney-based company that specialised in Decorative Finishes, Murals and 3D works where he formed an interest in sculpture and metal working and during this time completed courses in Ornamental Ironwork and Welding. In 1997 he formed his own Decorative Finish and Theming company working on many projects in Sydney and around Australia, with the highlight being designing and supplying artworks and finishes for the public and VIP areas of the new Olympic Stadium in 2000. In 2002 Michael formed a partnership with fellow artist John Creighton creating and installing Architectural Sculpture in Australia and overseas before making a move to the Blue Mountains in 2005 to focus on his own work. Michael’s pieces have featured in Belle and Vogue Living magazines and are currently held in private collections in Australia, Dubai, Macau, China, Singapore and Thailand. At this time Michael’s work is mainly by commission.