Born in Denmark, Karen Hansen has lived in the south west of England since 1985, where she runs a successful business in furniture design and sculptural construction.
Starting her woodworking career in 1979 as a site-carpenter in construction with work in both Europe and America, she later moved into workshop based joinery and cabinet making.
She has extensive experience in conservation joinery and carving, gaining a scholarship through the Prince’s Foundation, and her work can be seen in places such as Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle.
To develop a more contemporary approach to her work, she spent 2 years studying Forest Product Technology, design and manufacture at Hooke Park College in Dorset and Bournemouth University, where she specialised in small round wood and coppice material.
It was here she had the freedom to develop her creative design abilities, which since 1994 have led to work in product design and development and forms the basis for her business today.
She works for both public and private clients and has worked on a wide range of creative projects involving local community groups.
Her experience of running workshops and setting up teaching programmes for adults and children has been developed both privately and through local and national organisations.
Karen Hansen designs with natural forms using sustainable materials to create contemporary furniture and sculptural constructions. Inspired by nature, Hansen seeks to emphasise the connections between individuals and their environment. This might relate to the use of local material to promote the survival of the woodland resource or building on site-specific elements within a commission. The design ideas develop with a feel for clear, clean lines and comfortable function and are based on a good understanding of material and structure. Her Danish roots continue to influence both approach and result.
Hansen says of her work: ‘Open to the idea of new technologies and material developments, I feel there still is a need for, and great value in, touch and time, when working to create things for life.’
