Hannah Lane began working with paper in 2002 after accidentally leaving a book out in the rain and developed the award-winning Paperwork. She could not bear to throw away her ruined book and decided to reuse it. Hannah had previously specialised in wood working during her degree and transferred those wood working techniques to the paper.

Recycling has always been an important element to her, so to be able to create a technique using the printed pages of unwanted books and paper that no longer had a use, became a defining factor within her practise.

Each item is hand-made by Hannah in her Derbyshire studio, she begins by making the material, each page is layered and transformed back into a solid wood like material. Traditional wood working methods are then used to shape objects from that material; the unique surface patterns on the paper when the objects are worked can never be recreated and echoes wood grain; wood becomes paper becomes wood.

In 2019 Hannah came full circle and began combining paper with wood. The relationship between the two materials is taking her on a new journey within her artistic process. Continuing the working practises she previously employed with each material independently, she has married the two with stunning results. Hannah is fascinated by natural shapes and the beauty of nature, combined with recycling and the evolution of both materials.

Hannah’s collections combine two materials that began at the same source. Paper, a short-term material is recycled to create a new shape and texture thus extending their journey. As the pieces are wood worked each material's grain exposes the consequences of my working actions, revealing the unseen internal imprint as the surface is scraped away.