Eleanor Long was born on the south coast of England in 1971 and studied Fine Art, specialising in sculpture, at Kent Institute of Art and Design, Canterbury in 1991-94. She graduated from The Royal College of Art in 2001 with an MA in Ceramics and Glass. Long has been awarded the Frederick Stuart Memorial Trust Award 1997, the RCA Society and Borders Artbook Prize 2001, the Woo Charitable Foundation Bursary 2002 and a Crafts Council Development Award in 2003. Most recently Long became the winner of the Arts Foundation Fellowship for Glass 2007.
As well as exhibiting her work she has completed many private commissions as well as a number of public artworks. These works include an external 20 metre balustrade on Exhibition Road, London SW7 for the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), a curved sandblasted artwork for Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, and a large external artwork piece for The Crown Estate and City Offices LLP which is situated in Soho, London W1.
Long enjoys conceiving and constructing work to exploit the effect of natural light, and the shadow, tones and edge that can be created. Her artwork presents the viewer with a subtle and surprising perspective, often using glass. Through much of her work an interest of fluidity and movement is readily apparent. An innate rhythm and energy guides a lot of the mark making and forms. She finds natural phenomena fascinating; the everyday as well as the rare, and seeks to engage the viewer through simple but compelling means. She is concerned with linking the built environment to natural elements, be it by shape, association, texture or light.
Long's interests led her to undertake an expedition to the Arctic circle in Feb/March 2008. During this trip she took part in scientific data collection expedition at Churchill Northern Studies Centre on Hudson Bay. Eleanor lives and works in London.