Welsh artist Eleanor Lakelin doesn’t just work with wood, she plays with the material’s innate qualities. After teaching in Africa and Europe, the London-based artist worked as a cabinet maker for 10 years before she found her niche: the crafting of wooden vessels and sculptures that encapsulate the untouched beauty of nature.
Because Lakelin learned to carve and sculpt wood using traditional turning techniques and centuries-old tools, her skill is an ability to enhance the natural patterning, texture and contours in a single piece of wood. In describing her method Lakelin says: “I peel back bark to reveal the organic chaos that can exist in the material itself.”
In her work Lakelin combines modern techniques such as sandblasting or scorching with the handcrafted techniques she was formally trained in. Behind each one of her bowl designs there lives a strong concept that communicates Lakelin’s fascination with the process of creation and decay. The artist’s appreciation for nature’s cycles gives way to the organic-looking forms and shapes of her designs that adopt the likeness of some ancient artefacts crafted by Mother Nature herself.
“I am particularly interested in the way natural elements and processes layer and colour wood and how the passage of time is etched into the fibres of the material,” says Lakelin.
This coming Saturday 11 July, Lakelin will take part in the Slow Turning exhibition at the Blue Coat Display Centre in Liverpool. The event will feature the expert craftsmanship of leading artists working in wood, willow and natural fibres.