Eleanor Lakelin | Available Works

Eleanor’s work is exhibited internationally and is part of prestigious private and public collections, including the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Victoria & Albert Museum, UK; the Museum of London, UK; the Mint Museum of Craft and Design, USA, the National Museum in Oslo. In 2020, she received a major commission from Reading Museum, supported by the CAS Rapid Response Fund and in partnership with Frieze London, to create a piece which memorialises Reading Gaol’s most famous inmate, Oscar Wilde. The artist is the recipient of notable awards and commendations, including a QEST Scholarship in 2018; winner of the Bespoke Category of the British Wood Awards in 2017; nomination for the Perrier-Jouët Arts Salon Prize in 2014; and The Cockpit Arts / Worshipful Company of Turners Award in 2011. Most recently Eleanor has been selected as a finalist for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2022.

A connection to the past is profound in Eleanor Lakelin’s work; she is fascinated by wood as a living, breathing substance with its own history of growth and struggle, centuries beyond our own. Her sculptural objects made in Horse Chestnut are created using a traditional woodworking lathe and centuries-old chisels and gouges, alongside modern tools and carving techniques. Her vessels appear like archaeological objects pulled from the ground; classical forms are referenced and smooth surfaces, reminiscent of ossified matter, rhythmically yield to knotted sections of burr.