Philia
Magazine

Sheena Murphy is the founder of nune (formerly Sheep + Stone), a design studio established in 2014 with projects spanning New York, Los Angeles, London, Madrid, Norway, and the Cotswolds. After spending over a decade living in New York, Seattle, and Bangalore, she returned to London in 2018 and now works between London and Madrid.

Originally trained in business, Murphy later completed a graduate degree in interior design at Parsons School of Design in New York before working with renowned studios including Bunny Williams and INC Architecture + Design, where she contributed to private residences and hospitality projects such as 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge.

Rooted in the belief that thoughtful design contributes to wellbeing, nune creates warm, approachable spaces across residential and hospitality projects. The studio works collaboratively with clients, architects, craftspeople, artists, and makers, with a strong emphasis on human experience, sustainability, and supporting independent creative communities.

Rachel Usher is a multi-award-winning interior designer and the founder and Creative Director of her eponymous design studio, established in 2012. Fully accredited by the SBID (Society of British and International Interior Design), she is recognised for a thoughtful and emotionally driven approach to interiors that extends beyond aesthetics, focusing on how spaces can enhance the way people live and feel within them.

Together with her studio team, Rachel places great importance on understanding each client’s personality and lifestyle, believing that meaningful interior design begins with human connection. Her work is guided by the idea that the spaces we inhabit have a profound impact on emotional wellbeing and everyday life.

Alongside her studio practice, Rachel is also the founder of The Business of Interiors and host of the podcast If These Walls Could Talk, where she explores the realities and nuances of working within the design industry.

Julie Nelson is a British ceramic artist whose practice explores the natural world through the expressive materiality of clay. Drawing inspiration from biology, botany, and landscape, she creates sculptural collections that investigate the patterns, rhythms, and subtle irregularities found in nature. Working in series, Nelson presents groups of objects that contrast and complement one another, revealing the interconnected relationships that exist within natural systems.

Rooted in an exploration of elemental forms, her work reflects themes of pattern, entropy, and transformation while celebrating the quiet complexity of the environment. Alongside her sculptural collections, projects such as Flock extend her practice into participatory installations, examining ideas of migration, identity, and collective experience through the gathering of individual forms.

Ciona Lee is a Korean-Italian artist and designer based in London whose practice focuses on hand-built ceramics and sculptural objects. Working primarily with clay, she creates organic forms inspired by nature and the human body, balancing simplicity, texture, and material expression.

Originally introduced to ceramics in Barcelona in 2016, Lee developed her practice through self-directed exploration. Often using neutral-toned clays and minimal glazing, her work celebrates the raw qualities of the material and the spontaneity of the hand-building process, resulting in unique pieces that embrace imperfection and individuality.