Valerie James is an artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She received her BFA in 2016 from Tyler School of Art and an MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2019. Through the format of jewelry, Valerie translates the gesture and psychology of traversed spaces. Using various techniques such as engraving, she conveys the mobility of jewelry, and the agency it instills both in and out of the studio. Valerie currently teaches at Tyler School of Art and works as a metals technician at Independent Casting Inc. while maintaining her studio practice in Fairmount, Philadelphia.