Jane Hammond
Fallen
2004–ongoing
Not on view
Date
2004–ongoing
Classification
Prints
Medium
Assemblage of Inkjet prints with matt medium, adhesive, fiberglass, ink, acrylic and opaque watercolor
Dimensions
Dimensions variable
Accession number
2007.6
Edition
Unique
Publication
Printed by Jane Hammond
Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from Sarah Ann and Werner Kramarsky, The Schiff Foundation, Melissa and Robert Soros, Marion C. and Charles Burson, Toby Devan Lewis Foundation, The Judith Rothschild Foundation, Nora and Guy Barron, Pam Joseph and Rob Brinker, Greg Kucera and Larry Yocom, Ted and Maryanne Ellison Simmons, and The Stanley Family Fund of the Community Foundation of New Jersey
Rights and reproductions
© 2004 - ongoing Jane Hammond
Inspired by a dream, Jane Hammond began collecting the leaves that are the basis of her sculptural installation Fallen in 2004. Gathered in different deciduous states, every leaf is then scanned into a computer, printed in color front and back, touched up, and cut out from the paper, with holes and imperfections rendered for maximum naturalism. Hammond then inscribed the name of an American soldier who had "fallen" in the Iraq war on each leaf before adding it to her forest floor, a brilliant array of reds, oranges, yellows, and browns, covering a rectangular base whose ground-level positioning encourages viewers to get close enough to read the names. What first appears as a beautiful assortment of autumn foliage is in fact a commemoration: Fallen’s 4,487 individual components concretize the number of lives that have been lost. The work’s dimensions are function of time: Hammond added new leaves to the piece as American soldiers’ lives were lost in the Iraq war.
