Julie Nelson

British ceramicist Julie Nelson has long drawn inspiration from nature, specifically the avian world. Intrigued by starling murmations — those fantastic, sudden, uniform shifts in direction as the birds sweep across the sky— she spent four months fashioning a 100-strong flock of her own. That work got her to thinking about human migration and led to a unique civic engagement. Working with the London’s Grounding Project, which supports persons with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder — particularly asylum seekers, refugees and displaced people — Julie ran workshops to teach people how to make a bird in clay. “We had many conversations about ‘home’, belonging and having the opportunity to create,” says Julie. “They really inspired me with their stories."