Prints and Mixed Media JANE HAMMOND

Printmaking processes have always fascinated me. I was looking at the work of contemporary printmakers to see if any new directions were developing. I saw the work of Jane Hammond, who works in several print media as well as paintings and mixed media.

Jane Hammond has a very interesting portfolio of work, much of which is presented at her website, but also at the websites of ther galleries. I contacted Jane about here work before I wrote this article.

 

 

 

 

 

“. . . in the piece Denomino Duplex -Literally, Naming and Doubleness - I made butterflies and gave them two part Latin names. The piece is a kind of visual poem. All the names are fictional - I have made them up. And on the backside of the piece, with its glossary, you see the poetic association with each butterfly. A black butterfly with white spots might be named, for instance, ‘Crow’ and ‘String of Pearls.’”

“The piece ‘Family Secret/Secret Family’ again uses butterflies. In fact, a comparison of the butterfly maps, Denomino Duplex and this piece could show a person how the same image could have three completely different meanings depending on how it is used in each piece. Each half of this piece consists of a kind of family tree study of eye-color representing two families in which two parents of differing eye colors each have four children of their resulting eye color.” (see above)

Jane Hammond works quite a bit on paper. These works are a combination of acrylic and gouache paint, graphite, rubber
stampings, color copier transfers, linoleum block prints, and ink drawings. Hammond constructs her images from many interests that include astrology, knot diagrams, magic tricks, phrenology, medical illustrations and shadow puppets to name a few. This comlexity of media and subject matter creates a very rich style of work.

Jane’s unique works on paper begin utilize cutouts, Xerox copies, stampings all assembled in a gluing and layering process. The dissimilar elements and fragments are controlled into a unity that develops until the work is completed. Jane Hammond uses this lexicon derived from her interests to provide a meaning from mixed associations that leaves her
statements reading as credible questions in the mind of the viewer.

Shark’s Ink - “Love Laughs” lithograph

 

 

 

 

Jane Hammond is represented in New York by Galerie Lelong. Her work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art, Philip Morris in New York, the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, Ohio and the Contemporary Museum of Honolulu. You can currently see the works of Jane hammond at these online exhbits:

http://www.janehammondartist.com/index.html

http://www.gregkucera.com/hammond.htm

Jane has works avaialble at the following galleries: Lemberg Gallery, Ferndale, Michigan
Byron C. Cohen Gallery for Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Wetterling Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
William Shearburn Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri
Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Peltz Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California
Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York
Graystone Contemporary Art, San Francisco, California

- Giselle Borzov