I am Lien Akkermans and I run a small woodturning studio in Hasselt/Lanaken. For me, wood has always been more than a material — it is a living record of time, climate, and place. Growing up across different parts of the world, I was surrounded by cultures that valued craft, but it was in Japan where my love for wood truly took root. The quiet respect for natural materials, the patience of process, and the pursuit of refinement became part of how I see the world.

In 2023, I turned to the lathe, drawn to the intimacy of shaping wood with my own hands. And last November, I returned to Japan to study traditional woodturning and urushi lacquer, learning techniques that speak not only of skill, but of centuries of care for the material.

Each piece I make begins with listening to the wood — its grain, its irregularities, its story. I believe that design should never exhaust the resources it draws from, but instead honor their origins and use them with humility. My work is as much about preserving the charater of the material as it is about creating objects: pieces that invite touch, carry memory, and live on beyond me.