Elena Vela Rey is a Spanish artist and designer currently based in London, known for her multifaceted approach that bridges contemporary art, traditional crafts, and design. With over a decade of experience in advertising and branding in Madrid, Elena’s career began in the digital realm, where she honed her skills in conceptualization, art direction, and UX/UI design. However, her passion for tactile creation and hands-on craftsmanship remained a constant undercurrent, deeply rooted in her early love of painting and crafting, inspired by her mother.

In 2016, a bookbinding course became the turning point that reignited her connection to manual crafts. Feeling the need for a creative reset, she took a year-long journey across Asia in 2017, immersing herself in local craft traditions. She explored block printing in India, leatherwork in Thailand, basket weaving in Cambodia, Bali, and Laos, and ceramics in Japan. This transformative experience expanded her technical repertoire and deeply influenced her perspective on the interplay between tradition and innovation in the creative process.

Upon returning to Europe, Elena moved to London and pursued studies in photographic art direction for fashion at UAL. This period marked her transition to a multidisciplinary practice, blending art direction, branding, and craft. After working in a multinational design consultancy, she founded her own branding and design studio in 2022, focusing on projects that emphasize craftsmanship and materiality. In her Hackney Wick studio, affectionately dubbed “my cave,” Elena develops her art and leads workshops in rattan basketry, leatherwork, and mixed-media art.

Now in her second year of a BA in Art and Contemporary Craft at West Dean College, Elena is delving deeper into the theoretical and practical aspects of traditional craft. The program complements her ambition to create work that seamlessly integrates handmade techniques with contemporary design, bridging the gap between digital and physical experiences.

Elena’s practice is characterized by its dual focus: commercial projects that emphasize immersive brand experiences and personal sculptural works exploring themes of identity, balance, and human connection with space. She aims to craft installations and objects that are as emotionally resonant as they are visually compelling, drawing on her diverse background in both digital innovation and traditional craftsmanship.

Through her evolving work, she seeks to inspire audiences by crafting deeply personal yet universally engaging multisensory experiences.