Halima Cassell

Halima Jade Cassell FRSS (born 1975) is a British sculptor and ceramicist working in many materials. She was born in Pakistan and brought up in Lancashire, England, now living in Shropshire. Her work is described as having "strong geometric elements and recurrent patterns that are often inspired by the repetitive motifs found in Islamic architecture and North African surface design".

Career

Cassell had a major exhibition Halima Cassell: Eclectica–global inspirations at Manchester Art Gallery 2 February 2019– 5 January 2020. She describes her work as "Combining strong geometric elements with recurrent patterns and architectural principles".

Her works are held in many public collections in the UK and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (Calliope, 2013, purchased with funding from the Art Fund).

Her public art can be seen in Blackburn, the Forest of Bowland, the Ribble Valley (six ceramic works in the Ribble Valley Sculpture Trail), Leicester, Nottingham and Liverpool.

Cassell is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors.

Cassell was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to art.

Style Cassell's carved forms are inspired by architecture and geometry as well as natural shapes. Commonly, Cassell works using bronze, ceramics, glass, stone, and wood, however she has been known to use other materials such as wallpaper. These natural materials match the simplicity of the forms she uses as the basis of her works, in doing so, Cassell heightens the impact of the "complex surface patterns" and dramatic angles. Cassell's designs are textured and embossed, and display different levels of surface to capture and reflect the light.

Selected publications