Shane Porter

Shane Porter serves as Lecturer in Design (Product) and Course Director of the BDes (Hons) Design (Product, Ceramics, Silversmithing & Jewellery) at Belfast School of Art, Ulster University. He is actively involved in multiple leadership roles including Chair of Applied Art Northern Ireland and Co-chair of Applied Art Ireland, as well as participating in the AHSS PILOT working group at Ulster University.

His educational background includes an MA in Ceramics & Glass from the Royal College of Art (2015), a BA (Hons) in Fine and Applied Art from Ulster University (2010), and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Further Education) from Ulster University (2019-2021). He is currently pursuing a PhD titled 'A Skin to Worship Him In: The Transcendence of Leathersexuality' with expected completion in 2030.

Porter's research interests span product design, ceramics, glass art, and craft studies, with a particular focus on material culture and the intersections of identity and subcultural practices. His design practice investigates themes of home and memory through the contrasting qualities of ceramics and glass to evoke emotional and tactile experiences. His PhD research explores leathersexuality as an embodied practice that facilitates personal, sexual, and metaphysical transcendence within gay male leather communities.

His artistic work has been featured in several private collections, including the permanent collection of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. In 2024/25, he has organized events featuring global leaders in craft and design through the PILOT Presents series, including talks with Marije Vogelzang and Shaun Leane.

As an educator and industry leader, Porter serves as a Craft Design Judge for the Institute Designers Ireland Graduate Design Awards and was a selection panelist for the British Ceramics Biennial 2023. He has delivered masterclasses including the James Rigler Masterclass lecture in 2021, demonstrating his commitment to advancing craft and design education.