Chris James (1964- ) was born in Fiji and spent his early years there. After obtaining a Ceramics Certificate from the National Art School in 1986, he started working full-time as a potter from a studio in Wahroonga, NSW, and teaching pottery part-time at Northern Sydney TAFE. During the 1990s he experimented with many styles, including saggar and wood firing, reduced stoneware and majolica, inspired by sources such as science fiction, architecture and space itself. In the early 2000s, he began making a range of high-fired undecorated slipcast wares, with understated forms inspired by the ocean and the nature of fluids. These are marketed under the trade name 'Chris James Ceramic Design, and use an Australian porcelain clay body made at the Keane Ceramics factory at Somersby, NSW. Works may be incised 'Chris James' or bear the impressed marks of a hand, foot or paw.