Born in Tamworth in 1981, Lake earned a BA in Photography from Arts University College Bournemouth in 2004, followed by postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 2009. She completed her practice-based PhD at Manchester School of Art in 2026. Her awards and funding include a Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP) grant from Arts Council England (2024–25), a Research Scholarship (2022) and Project Space Award (2018) from Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa, a NEUSTART Stipendium from Deutscher Künstlerbund (2021), and the Dunoyer de Segonzac (2009) and Michael Moser (2008) Awards from the Royal Academy of Arts. Her work has been exhibited internationally across Europe and the USA and is held in public and private collections. Her practice explores the intersections of art, psychoanalysis and queer identity.