Community rallies to support Eltham chainsaw artist Leigh Conkie after home burns down

A community in Melbourne’s northeast has rallied around a charismatic chainsaw-wielding artist after his childhood home and studio was destroyed in a fire.

The home of Eltham chainsaw sculptor Leigh Conkie after it was burnt by fire on August 3, 2024.

The home of acclaimed artist, Leigh Conkie, has been destroyed by fire — the second time his property has been hit by a disaster.

Conkie’s Eltham property, which has called home since the 1970s, was gutted by fire on August 3.

“I don’t really know what happened,” Conkie said.

“I went for an hour and came back and there was a whole heap of people standing around my place”.

What was left of Conkie’s home …

The artist, who uses a chainsaw to create his pieces, said he was “still in shock”, adding he was yet to decide whether he would rebuild.

“A lot of the art is saved but a lot of the stuff I had as a kid is all burnt,” he said.

It’s not the first time Conkie’s childhood home had been struck by disaster.

Conkie recalled seeing his fridge “float through the kitchen” when the Christmas Day storms ripped through his property in 2012.

After these floods, he said his home and contents insurance was taken away, leaving him with no protection when the fire hit earlier this month.

Ryan Gaskett, a filmmaker who told Conkie’s story in a feature-length documentary centred on the chain-smoking artist’s unlikely quest to climb M Fuji, has set up a fundraiser to help his friend.

He said the fire had left Conkie with “nothing but the clothes on his back”.

Leigh Conkie inspecting the damage to his Eltham home after the 2012 floods.

Conkie’s art is well known around Melbourne’s north.

It included a statue outside Ivanhoe railway station and sculptures previously displayed at Greensborough War Memorial Park.

In 2014, Conkie, in a daring heist-like act, placed a sculpture of a female asylum seeker holding a baby on the lawn outside The Age’s office in a bid to raise awareness about Australia’s treatment of refugees.

His house, with its forest of wood carvings out the front, was also well-known to many who regularly drove along Main Rd, Eltham.

Ryan Gaskett and Leigh Conkie back in 2013.

Gaskett described his friend’s home as “iconic” and recalled the many tourists and well wishers who would often drop in unannounced.

“It’s so sad for Leigh and it’s sad for the community as well,” he said.

“I think how we’re seeing people wanting to help in any way they can is a reflection of Leigh, the sort of person he is.”

Conkie said he was very touched by all the donations, adding had helped him not just financially but also “emotionally” to know he had the community’s support.

The online fundraiser set up to help Conkie can be found here.