About:

I am a sculptor working with stone, wood, and bronze; I love exploring the unique qualities of the materials: their texture, colour and density and often smell, whilst searching for my forms. I draw inspiration from the human figure, natural and human made objects such as seeds, pods, boats, and bags, using materials like oak, marble, and limestone to transform fleeting feelings and ideas into sculpture.

In my abstract work, I distil objects down to simple, expressive shapes, focusing on the essentials of the subject rather than its literal form and on the inherent physical qualities of the materials: the smoothness of marble, the translucence of alabaster, the roughness or grain of wood. The physicality of the materials themselves and the working of them are as important to me as the subject matter.

My figurative work in bronze and clay captures the energy and movement of the human form in life studies. From these studies my current stone pieces develop into more archetypal representations.

I make portraits in clay, from life, and enjoy the eye to hand processing and interpretations that evolve. Each portrait is of course a different journey but they usually take between 4- 8 sittings of about 1.5 – 2 hours. Please contact me for more details about commissions and pricing.

I live and work in the Brecon Beacons near Hay-on-Wye, visits to my workshop are very welcome with prior arrangement.

“Jeremy is a representational sculptor, interested in representing both form and materiality. He enjoys the challenge of showing the quiet joy and soft wooliness of a lone and dancing sock, the fragility of a flower or the silkiness of a cat. An accomplished portraitist, he simplifies to express the very essence of the sitter. His lovely soft fruits have ripened in various sizes. Their very minimal shapes giving them a true softness. His most recent works, perhaps growing out of these are the Vessels. Almost Platonic forms, they eschew a boat’s actual materiality and give only the aerodynamic lines of a vessel designed to cleave the water most undisruptively. They dispense with everything but form. The stone and the form speak together each enhancing the other without interruption."

- Anwyl Cooper-Willis, artist, author, and curator.

News:

See Drift Magazine's recent feature on Jeremy's sculptural work

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Education

  • MA Fine Art, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, 2007

  • HND Figurative Sculpture, Stafford College, 1997

Residencies

  • Plas Brondanw, Wales, Susan Williams-Ellis project, 2023

  • Bohago private Estate, Cornwall, drawing and stone carving, 2023

  • Longleat, residency creating ‘Brigid’, 3m tall oak figure, 2004

Solo Exhibitions

  • Jeremy Stiff at Tŷ Tân Art, Hay on Wye 2021

  • Jeremy Stiff at Tŷ Tân Art, Hay on Wye 2020

  • Windows, Plas Brondanw Gardens, Llanfrothen 2014

Group Exhibitions

  • ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, The Mall Galeries, London 2024

  • Wells Art Contemporary, Wells Cathedral, Wells, Somerset 2024

  • Oriel Brondanw Open, Oriel Brondanw, Llanfrothen 2024

  • Gallery Artist, Whitewater Contemporary, Polzeath, Cornwall 2023

  • Y Lle Celf, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Pwllheli 2023

  • Oriel Brondanw Open, Oriel Brondanw, Llanfrothen 2023

  • Summer Exhibition, Plas Glyn y Weddw, Pwllheli 2019

  • Helfa Gelf, Theatre Clwyd, Mold 2015

  • 3 Artistes de Viam, Eglise de Viam, Viam19170, France 2014

  • H-Art, Hereford Museum and Art Gallery, Hereford 2013

  • Gallery Artist, Lion St. Gallery, Hay-on-Wye 2012-2013

  • J Stiff & M Angharad, Maison de Granite, Bugeat, France 2012

  • La Femme, Maison de Granite, Bugeat, France 2011

  • Summer Exhibition, Tarc Gallery, Bromyard 2010

  • Domesticated, Old Post Office, Swindon 2010

  • Salon d’Automne, Vierzon, France 2009

  • Domesticated, Walcot Chapel, Bath 2009

  • Ludlow Summer Exhibition, Ludlow College, Ludlow 2009

  • Pillows, Oriel Caffi Croesor, Gwynedd 2009

  • Sculpture Cymru at Picton Castle, Picton Castle, Camarthenshire 2009

  • Welsh Contemporaries, Salem Gallery, Hay-on-Wye 2009

  • Gallery Artist, Mumbles Road Gallery, Mumbles 2008-9

  • Ludlow Summer Exhibition, Ludlow College, Ludlow 2008

  • Sculpture Cymru at the Swan, Hay-on-Wye 2008

  • Welsh Contemporaries, 35 West Square, London 2007

  • Summer Exhibition, Kooywood Gallery, Cardiff 2007

  • Summer Exhibition, Salem Gallery, Hay-on-Wye 2007

  • Jeremy Stiff & Menna Angharad, The Koywood Gallery, Cardiff 2005

Sculpture Symposiums

  • Sant Maur, France, carved oak totem, 2005

  • Meymac, France, carved oak figure, 2003