Shelley James

Shelley James trained in textiles in Paris and began her career as a design consultant for international brands, including Visa International, Shell and Cancer Research UK. She went back to university to find out about digital production techniques and started to experiment with printmaking and glass.

Shelley James became fascinated by the power of glass to shed a fresh light on the everyday and the extraordinary– from Newton's rainbows streaming from the bevelled edge of a mirror, to the discovery of the structure of DNA through crystallography. A growing awareness of the power of light to, literally, change our mind, sparked further study. She is now a certified lighting designer and electrician.

Shelley James, Future Heritage 2015 Alumna

Shelley James’ practice thrives on lively conversations with scientists and artists, composers and cooks. With them she seeks to understand the underlying principles and their wider historical and philosophical context. James combines traditional glass making, emerging digital technologies and lighting to interpret these phenomena through the material and optical properties of glass, often testing the limits of this beautiful and versatile medium. Sharing discoveries through public engagement, exhibitions, writing and teaching is a vital and rewarding dimension of her work.

Current projects include experiments with Sir Roger Penrose and Professor Brian Sutton to explore the role of quantum entanglement in crystal formation, designing a new Artificial Anatomies course at King’s College, and building immersive visual illusions with psychologists, to understand the way that urban design affects the way that we move through our cities.

Eroding Form By Shelley James

At Future Heritage

Shelley James was commissioned to design and make a series of wall and floor-based glass artworks. These were designed to create compelling illusions of space and movement through moiré interference patterns, inspired by ongoing research with psychologists and neurologists. The patterns were all inspired by the universal organic symmetries described by D’Arcy Thompson in his seminal work ‘On Growth and Form.’ The floor panels drew on the same inspiration and were set into the floor of the stand, to be walked on by the visitor. They were constructed from layers of hand-printed toughened and laminated glass and giclée printed paper set into a shallow box frame. Research with the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of London found that these produced a stable and disconcerting experience of walking over a deep space- an average of 63 cm, over six times the actual depth of 10cm.

“Future Heritage was a turning point for my career – it was the first time I had been able to work on an architectural scale, to engage with this audience and work with a remarkable group of makers, the curator and the Future Heritage team and UBM. It gave me confidence and a fresh perspective." - Shelley James

Current work

The commission with Future Heritage led to a growing fascination with architectural space and lighting – and her subsequent qualifications as a lighting designer and electrician.

Recent projects include architectural lighting installations for Cambridge University, the Royal Academy and King’s College, London. Current collaborations include a celebration of crystallography and the publication of Rosalind Franklin’s Photo 51 and ongoing research with the physics team at MIT into the geometry and optics of spinning tops.

Echoes of Amphora By Shelley James

If you would like to make an enquiry about Shelley James and commissions, get in touch here or visit her website Shelleyjames.co.uk