Eleanor Lakelin
House Contributor
“I peel back bark to reveal the organic chaos that can exist in the material itself and build up layers of texture through carving and sandblasting. I use the vessel form and surface pattern to explore the layers and fissures between creation and decay and the erosion of nature.”
Eleanor Lakelin is a British artist, creating vessels and sculptural objects from wood. Her distinctive forms are created in response to the passage of time etched into the fibres of the material. She lives and works in London.
Brought up in a remote Welsh village, Eleanor went on to teach English in Europe and West Africa. A renovation project rekindled her longstanding passion for wood and she retrained as a cabinet maker. For the last 20 years Eleanor has dedicated herself to her artistic practice and honed her skills through a series of masterclasses.
Eleanor explores her fascination with the natural properties of wood using a traditional woodworking lathe and centuries-old chisels and gouges alongside modern techniques and tools. Provenance is of particular importance and she only uses wood from trees felled in the British Isles and in particular Ash and Horse Chestnut Burr.
Eleanor is a recipient of notable accolades including a Perrier-Jouët Arts Salon Prize nomination and The Cockpit Arts / Worshipful Company of Turners Award. Her work is exhibited and collected widely. Recent projects include Taste Contemporary Craft, Art Monte-Carlo, A Future Made at Design Miami/ Basel with Crafts Council and The New Craftsmen, and a major commission for the National Trust.