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Soundings
Soundings
Shelley James
Borosilicate and blown glass instruments
With thanks to Louis Thompson and Liam Reeves
January to October 2011
About the work
While developing a series of glass sculptures about the connections – and disconnections - between the eye and the brain, I became aware of the extraordinary sounds that were created while blowing, cutting and polishing the work. I was intrigued by the way that the form of the piece seemed to give no hint as to how it might sound and wondered how the eyes, the ears and the brain work together to make sense of the world.
Further research and conversations with David McAlpine at the Ear Institute at UCL in London, Andrew Lamb, Joseph Currie and others in the Faculty of Music in Oxford led to a new body of work, some of which is displayed here, inspired by the different organs involved in the mysterious process of making and hearing music: brain, ear, lung, heart and hand.
These pieces are all made of glass. Some, made from blown hot glass, was created with the generous help of Louis Thompson and Liam Reeves. I created others using scientific or borosilicate glass, heated with a high-pressure torch through process called lamp-working. All were cut and polished at the glass studios of the Royal College of Art in London between January and October 2011.
These themes relate to my research at the RCA, an investigation of the location of the image in glass and the role of performance in perception.
About the artist
A first degree in textiles in Paris led to a first career in corporate design, with projects in France, the USA, Taiwan and Sweden. The decision to focus on more personal creative work led to an MA in printmaking at the University of the West of England in Bristol, residencies at the National Glass Research Centre in Sunderland, the Northland Glass Centre in Scotland and an Arts Council England Residency at UCA in Farnham.
I am currently preparing a PhD at the Royal College of Art in London alongside an ongoing Residency at the Bristol Eye Hospital, teaching, writing and exhibiting. Work is in private and public collections in China, France, Holland and the UK. Recent commissions include pieces for the Crafts Council, the RNIB, Moorfields and the Bristol Eye Hospital.
For more information, please email info@shelleyjames.co.uk