"Blanket of Branches" is an installation work consisting of a network of branches suspended from the ceiling. The work was originally conceived in 1986 for the Contemporary Arts Forum in Santa Barbara, CA, and has undergone multiple iterations since its creation. A version of the work, "Crown of Thorns," was included in the 1988 exhibition "Art as a Verb: The Evolving Continuum," curated by Lowery Stokes Sims and Leslie King-Hammond at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD; traveling to the Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC; and Metropolitan Life Insurance, NYC, 1988. The landmark exhibition platformed Black, predominantly female artists working in nontraditional media, and highlighted process and human engagement.

The work was also included in Hassinger's 2015 retrospective "Maren Hassinger...Dreaming" at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, and the exhibition "Groundswell: Women of Land Art," at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX, which assembled often-overlooked contributions by female artists to the landscape art movement that engaged the environment and public spaces.

The constructed canopy activates the space overhead and complicates the traditional gallery setting, bringing nature inside. Much of Hassinger's work explores humanity's complex relationship with the natural world, optimistically affirming the importance of stewardship and environmental preservation while acknowledging the impact of industry and consumerism. "Blanket of Branches" leans into the grounding, healing properties of being immersed in nature, akin to the Japanese practice of "shinrin-yoku," or forest bathing, a practice that promotes mindfulness, sensorial meditation, and establishing a connection to nature.

The current iteration of "Blanket of Branches" was constructed from a giant sycamore tree that originally stood on Vassar College's campus in upstate New York. The tree was a grand fixture of the campus from its inception, even featuring in Benson John Lossing's 1867 book about the college's history:

"Turn now a little to the left, by these ancient cherry trees, and see how grandly this giant sycamore — one of the primitive sons of the forest — rises above the surrounding trees, and spreads its sheltering branches over the spring at its foot."
(Lossing, Benson John. "Vassar College and Its Founder." New York, C.A. Alvord, 1867, pg. 77-78).

After the tree was felled by a destructive storm during the summer of 2026, Hassinger salvaged the branches. In the process of transposing the sycamore's nurturing presence into the gallery space, "Blanket of Branches" restores to the grand organism its natural grace and dignity and extends its restorative force, at least for a time.