Artist Biography
Jamie Lawrence

Originally from London and raised largely along the South Wales coast, my early life was shaped by constant proximity to the natural world. I was instinctively drawn to form from a young age, collecting stones, fragments of metal, and other objects whose shapes felt significant. This curiosity evolved into making, first through assembling driftwood into simple wooden sculptures, influenced by the coastal landscape around me: distant lighthouses, cliff faces, seabirds, and the expansive horizon. Frequent visits to bird of prey sanctuaries with my family deepened this fascination, as did time spent observing the rock formations along the Jurassic coastline at Lavernock. Creativity was consistently encouraged at home, and I established my first studio in my bedroom, using tools borrowed from my father’s toolbox.

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Stone is now the primary material in my practice. I source offcuts from local stonemasons and carve each piece by hand using traditional methods that I have largely taught myself. My process begins with observation, particularly of birds, which I reduce into essential forms and volumes through drawing. These drawings guide the carving process, allowing the work to remain rooted in the physical reality of the subject while moving toward abstraction. I am drawn to stone for both its conceptual and material qualities: its permanence, history, resilience, and the sense of time embedded within it. Stone carries an inherent gravity that aligns with my interest in life cycles, endurance, and continuity.

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Birds function as a recurring subject through which I explore human lived experience. Their resilience, instinct, and relationship to landscape act as quiet metaphors for survival, care, and presence. My first definitive sculptural work, Alabaster Sentinel, depicts a mother falcon seated on her nest, guarding her young. The piece was inspired by the peregrine falcons nesting in the cliffs near my home, which I observed regularly through a telescope, watching them withstand harsh weather and constant exposure. This work marked a turning point in my practice. It was exhibited in a central position at Turner House Gallery in 2024, and witnessing viewers’ emotional responses to the piece confirmed my desire to communicate meaning through sculpture.

Further affirmation came with the selection of Rosalume for the Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition in 2025, a milestone that reinforced the direction and ambition of my practice. These moments clarified that my work succeeds when it translates personal observation into something others can connect with emotionally and intuitively.

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I studied at Cardiff School of Art, where my vision became more focused and my understanding of traditional processes deepened. While my practice remains largely intuitive and self-directed, this education gave me the tools to plan more rigorously and to approach making with greater clarity and intention.

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Today, each piece begins with sustained time spent observing nature, followed by drawing and clay modelling. Only then do I select a stone whose colour, veining, and character align with the intended outcome. The material is never neutral; its natural qualities actively shape the final form. I consider the viewer essential to the work’s completion, as relatability and recognition are central to what I aim to convey. Rather than decoding meaning, I want viewers to encounter the work as something immersive and emotionally resonant.

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Looking forward, I want my sculptures to exist in public spaces as well as galleries, becoming part of people’s everyday environments. I work exclusively in one-off pieces to preserve the individuality and integrity of each sculpture. In the long term, I want my work to be remembered for the memories, feelings, and connections it creates, quiet encounters that linger beyond the moment of viewing.