Eleanor Lakelin, United Kingdom

The Landscape of Memory

2021

Sequoia wood, iron solution

430 × 430 × 290 mm

A creative response to The Landscape of Memory by Nicolette Polek

The hollow space is small and I whistle into it, then move my ear near to hear where it goes. Years later, I’m at Grand Central Station, at the whispering gallery outside the oyster bar, where one can utter anything and it will carry across the arches. Soft words eclipse the ceiling tiles. Breaths stretch from one end to the other. I hear a faint, familiar whistle. Acoustic mirrors guide it to my ear. I am an ouroboros of tangled roots. My past is made up of secret sounds.

Brought up in a rural village in Wales, Lakelin worked in education before retraining as a cabinetmaker in 1995. Her work is rooted in the rhythm of growth and the eroding power of natural elements. Her work is exhibited internationally with pieces acquired for prestigious public and private collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of London, the Mint Museum in the United States, and the National Museum of Norway.