Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1975 Kashmir, Pakistan

Other name/s: Halima Jade Cassell MBE FRSS

Biography

Sculptor Halima Cassell was born into a Muslim family in Kashmir, Pakistan in 1975 and relocated to Lancashire, England with her family in 1976 when she was a year old. Her parents died suddenly during her early childhood and, from the age of 12, she was brought up in the care system. Initially studying art and design at college, she subsequently graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a BA (Hons) in 3D Design (1997), and an MA in Design (2002). Additionally, she obtained a Professional Development Qualification in Technology for Designer Makers (2003) from Manchester City College. Regarding her relationship to memories and to her birth country, she has stated: ‘[…], I have realised that we don’t recall memories or feelings until much later when they are triggered by an event, such as the first time that I returned to Pakistan in 2009 when I was 34 years old. And coming off the airplane, I had an instant connection with the earth there and the whole smell and density of the humidity was something that was very familiar to me’ (Cassell quoted in Something Curated, 2023).

Cassell’s sculptural oeuvre is marked by an interplay of geometric precision and recurrent patterns, often echoing the intricate motifs prevalent in Islamic and North African art. Her high-relief carvings, influenced by architectural forms and natural shapes, leverage the interplay of light and shadow to generate a dramatic effect. Cassell’s materials are diverse: bronze, ceramics, glass, stone, and wood, with occasional forays into unconventional media, such as wallpaper. This selection of materials enhances the simplicity of her forms, while amplifying the complexity of her surface patterns and dramatic contours. Cassell’s signature style is distinguished by bold, vigorous designs and meticulous carving, underpinned by an interplay between pattern, form, material, and scale. Early in her career, her work drew heavily on the repetitive motifs of North African and Islamic design, as well as English architectural elements. She has also taken inspiration from the illusions and mathematical precision of M.C. Escher and from English op art painter, Bridget Riley. Although Cassell is heavily dyslexic, art and mathematics were two subjects that always interested her at school. However, her recent works reflect a broader geographical influence, enriched by visiting different areas in Britain, Italy, Japan, and Pakistan. This evolution is evident in her shift towards organic shapes and asymmetry, generating a balance between masculine and feminine lines. The textured surfaces of Cassell’s pieces play with light in varying degrees, culminating in mature works that are both substantial and dynamic. Cassell’s art is a physical manifestation of her dual British-Pakistani cultural heritage, an exploration of the intangible through the tangible to foster a dialogue between reason and intuition.

Cassell regularly exhibits in the UK and internationally and has had residencies in Italy and Japan. Her exhibition Reflections, which opened at Blackwell – the Arts & Crafts House in the Lake District in 2023, explored Cassell’s art practice since 2012 and featured her sculptures, along with preparatory sketches, notebooks, collages, and wallpapers, offering an insight into Cassell’s precise design process and craftsmanship. Resonating with the Arts & Crafts Movement, her work emphasises a return to nature and geometric patterns inspired by Asian and African design. In the same year, she participated in a group show Natural Connections at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, featuring practitioners who drew inspiration from the natural world, and coincided with the International Ceramics Festival, showcasing the elemental essence of clay through various forms of artistic expression. By using clay, the artists crafted works reflecting their personal engagement with time, place, and space.

In 2018, Cassell was awarded the Sovereign Asian Art Prize for her bronze piece titled Acapella and was a recipient of the 2024 Brookfield Properties Craft Award from the Crafts Council. In the 2021 New Year Honours Cassell received an MBE for her contributions to art. She also holds a Fellowship from the Royal Society of Sculptors (FRSS). Halima Cassell lives and works in Craven Arms, Shropshire, England, where she maintains a studio. Halima Cassell's work is held in several UK public collections, including Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, Hepworth Wakefield, Jerwood Collection, Oldham Gallery, Touchstones Rochdale, and the V&A, and her sculpture can be seen in a number of public locations, including the Ribble Valley Sculpture Trail and the Wakefield Sculpture Trail.

Related books

Halima Cassell, 'Interview: Sculptor Halima Cassell On Numerology & Islamic Surface Design', Something Curated, 31 July 2023 (https://somethingcurated.com/2023/07/31/interview-sculptor-halima-cassell-on-numerology-islamic-surface-design/)
Lindsay Porter, ed., Halima Cassell 25: Twenty-five Years of Carving (Craven Arms: Halima Cassell, 2022)
Ian Wilson, 'Complex Structures: Halima Cassell's Works in Clay, Glass and Bronze', Craft Arts International, Vol. 89, 2013, pp. 27-30
Andrew Lambirth, Light Structures: Halima Cassell at Blackwell (Kendal: Lakeland Arts Trust, 2012)
Andrew Lambirth et al, Dreams Made Manifest: Halima Cassell (Scunthorpe: North Lincolnshire Council, 2009)

Public collections

Related organisations

Blackburn College (student )
Manchester City College (student )
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
Royal Society of Sculptors (Fellow)
University of Central Lancashire (student )

Selected exhibitions

Of the Earth (group show), Messums West/Place Farm, Tisbury, Wiltshire (2024)
Wakefield Sculpture Trail (group show), various locations, Wakefield, Yorkshire (2024)
Collect (group show), Somerset House, London (2024)
Reflections (solo exhibition), Blackwell Arts & Crafts House, Bowness-on-Windermere (2023-24)
Dream and Refuge - Works from Jerwood Collection (group show), Arnolfini, Bristol (2023)
Natural Connections (group show), Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth (2023)
Halima Cassell & Emma Rogers, Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool (2021)
Eclectica – Global Inspirations (solo exhibition), Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester (2019–20)
Monumental (group show), Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (2018)
In Focus: ‘Exploration in Concrete’ (solo exhibition), Kirby Art Gallery, Kirby (2014)
Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (2017-18)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Halima Cassell]

Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.

Halima Cassell artist