Elliott Gallery is excited to present our forthcoming display and book launch:

Burnt House Lane by Michelle Sank

A documentation of the close- knit community, urban and rural landscapes of Burnt House Lane, an historic housing area near Exeter, UK.

Burnt House Lane by Michelle Sank. Published by Dewi Lewis Publishing.

The Burnthouse Lane estate was first dreamt up by Exeter Council in the idealistic 1920s to rehouse impoverished people from the West Quarter slum. Designed along Garden City lines and purposely self-contained it was a place for working-class families to live. In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher’s Right to Buy scheme meant that some of the properties became privately owned, but Burnt House Lane is still referred to as a council estate. The deprivation it was supposed to overcome has continued to haunt it, but the isolated nature of the estate and its intricate labyrinth of lanes, have also made for positives, such as a close-knit community and a sense of solidarity among the residents.

“Often considered a no-go area in the past, my experience has been completely different – it is one where I have been welcomed and embraced within the community. It is this positivity that I wanted to highlight. I have always been drawn to this area because of the way it embraces diversity and the individuality that emanates from this – both in the way people express themselves but also how this is reflected in the adornment of their properties which for the most part have identical fabric, but which are charged with a personal stamp in the gardens, in the windows and even in the wall faces - my use of strong colour and light accentuating this sense of celebration.”

- Michelle Sank

Coinciding with the official launch of her latest publication Burnthouse Lane, published by Dewi Lewis Publishing. The book and series are exploring this historic and diverse community of Burnthouse Lane, revealing a positive focus on the individuality of residents and their environments.