Creative Contraption

The Latest In Creative Contraptions

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

Eleanor Lakelin’s stunning vessels and sculptures carved and chiselled from wood

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

“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,” explains Eleanor Lakelin, the British artist who creates vessels and sculptural objects from wood. “I use the vessel form and surface pattern to explore the layers and fissures between creation and decay and the erosion of nature.” Her distinctive forms are apparently created in response to the passage of time etched into the fibres of the material.

Brought up in a remote Welsh village, Eleanor taught 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 twenty years, Eleanor has dedicated herself to her artistic practice and honed her skills through a series of masterclasses.

She 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.

She adds: “I’m fascinated by wood as a living, breathing substance with its own history of growth and struggle centuries beyond our own. I’m particularly inspired by the organic mayhem and creative possibilities of burred wood. This proliferation of cells, formed over decades or even centuries as a reaction to stress or as a healing mechanism is a rare, mysterious and beautiful act of nature.

“The twisted configuration of the grain and the frequent bark inclusions and voids are challenging to work and the forms difficult to hollow but the removal of the bark reveals a secret, ethereal landscape, unseen by anyone before.

“Parts of the form are sculpted smooth and others left raw and untouched. Heavy, forceful hollowing gives way to sandblasting and fine and dextrous work cleaning up every fissure and contour. Pieces are bleached and scorched and tirelessly hand-worked to different lustres and an alabaster-like smoothness. They become objects that invite touch and objects that touch us, reminding us of our elemental and emotional bond with wood and our relationship to the Earth.”

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Ester Segarra

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Ester Segarra

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Ester Segarra

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Ester Segarra

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Ester Segarra

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Ester Segarra

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

© Eleanor Lakelin. Image credit: Jeremy Johns

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Articles

Suprachromacy: Full-spectrum macro photography of Lanzarote’s alien plant life

Suprachromacy: Full-spectrum macro photography of Lanzarote’s alien plant life

April 19, 2018 By Upright

Nick Chaffe on discovering graphic design, going freelance and surviving tornadoes

Nick Chaffe on discovering graphic design, going freelance and surviving tornadoes

April 19, 2018 By Upright

Beyond What is Written: Photographs of non-believers in the Bible Belt of Tennessee

Beyond What is Written: Photographs of non-believers in the Bible Belt of Tennessee

April 19, 2018 By Upright

SomeOne’s progressive brand identity for World Travel Market’s Travel>Forward

SomeOne’s progressive brand identity for World Travel Market’s Travel>Forward

April 19, 2018 By Upright

Royole Moon 3D Mobile Theater is the perfect portable entertainment device

Royole Moon 3D Mobile Theater is the perfect portable entertainment device

April 18, 2018 By Upright

15 Must Have Animal Planters for Your Home.

15 Must Have Animal Planters for Your Home.

April 18, 2018 By Upright

Embracing change: Why it’s ok to take a step back or do something different

Embracing change: Why it’s ok to take a step back or do something different

April 18, 2018 By Upright

National Portrait Gallery calls for entries to its Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

National Portrait Gallery calls for entries to its Photographic Portrait Prize 2018

April 18, 2018 By Upright

Women in Print celebrates the lives of women who lived and worked at Dunham Massey

Women in Print celebrates the lives of women who lived and worked at Dunham Massey

April 18, 2018 By Upright

Airwheel SR3 suitcase will follow you wherever you go

Airwheel SR3 suitcase will follow you wherever you go

April 17, 2018 By Upright

Related Articles

  • urbanears-jakan-d799f17596b94fc163c5bce7bd5c40a8d4132b9d

    Urbanears Jakan magnetic earbuds work like magic

    Apr 24, 2018
  • somerights20-f772af3a2e4642b852698be8535e8f835d74a4f4

    15 Must Have Glasses for Your Beverages.

    Apr 24, 2018
  • 2887c730680bec79512c4050982f63b54e523cd3_840-19cdd7106194838a8ab172bce1c225833813829b

    Up Close with Marilyn: Rare portraits of the Hollywood legend by Milton H. Greene

    Apr 24, 2018
  • 073e9def077e16935546fbbe22de22ac5bf512ec_840-43eb0ef5bdf4c8f92cca7823bf531e0a55fb7165

    Crowded Fields: Composite photographs of sports fields that show human patterns

    Apr 24, 2018
  • ea853158b008a31c132240d0973276e908c8db36_840-99bc2a6af297efecfc7c89a267cf8b4a25643ec0

    Devotion: Franklyn Rodgers pays homage to his mother, Loretta and her close friends

    Apr 24, 2018
  • 5fd9de9146fda7b07ed8b345d9987ef232d5a5c4_840-ebb1df217870e884ca0802c1b5af37d33c8821b2

    Lost & Found: First major retrospective of Joe Webb’s evocative screenprints and collages

    Apr 24, 2018
  • Solo-otterbox-2a507b6eb7493b517b62f41fa3639785053cb6a1

    Solo: A Star Wars Story Symmetry series cases now out

    Apr 23, 2018
  • somerights20-f772af3a2e4642b852698be8535e8f835d74a4f4

    15 Must Have Salt and Pepper Shakers.

    Apr 23, 2018
  • 03431f92e33122787092d1169d10aff5cc91fbc7_840-b9c44aa0e0345a1b31666a5aa4ee2bfec2f13556

    Notes from the Heartland: Photographer Danny Wilcox Frazier documents the lives of Midwesterners

    Apr 23, 2018
  • c31352d9362660230c75726075566ac310c7e4ee_840-028c759ca66106a1d5651dd348c56085ab021604

    Emerging artist Alexandra Grounds modernises pop-art icons with giant feminist works

    Apr 23, 2018

Copyright © 2018 CreativeContraption.net

Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Sitemap · Contact