Nature Walk Magic Realism in Dreamlike Setting

A soulful young man is captured in a deep, contemplative state, detached from current external concerns, as he gazes beyond the picture plane. He is realistically rendered, but the scene he inhabits is anything but reality. A fantastical warm light bathes him as he takes a walk in nature. The warm light is not a strong Caravaggio directional light, typically associated with painting in gold tonality that has long, dark shadows. The light in this picture is more of an internal light, as if it emanates from within the subject outward. It has a very original feel to it. The subject looks outward, and the light emanates outward. Within the composition, the lightest light area is the young man, as if he were a human light bulb. The further away from him, the darker it gets. In the center of the composition is a cross-section of a weathered forest log that floats in space. It is not attached to anything and is divided into two sections that resemble a cross-section of the human brain. Again, the lightest part of the log is closer to the light source - the young man. This "brain-like - imagery supports Artist Hazel Janicki's magic fantasy narrative. But there is still more. The floating thorns that Janicki depicts in skimming light resemble synapse connections that transmit signals between neurons. She visualizes the internal thought processes of a single young man, alone, daydreaming in a world devoid of any man-made objects. The picture only shows him, nature, and his thought processes. In the canon of Art History, there are the recognized masters of the Magic Realism genre: Paul Cadmus, George Tooker, Leonora Carrington, Ivan Albright, Peter Blume, Edward Hopper, Frida Kahlo, Andrew Wyeth, and Alex Colville. Many of these artists also painted in tempera. Artist reflect the ethos of their time. Perhaps overlooked female artist Hazel Janicki, who painted in mid-century, should be added to this list.
Signed lower right. Frame size:23.5 x 34
Provenance: Circle Gallery, Wolfs Gallery
Hazel Janicki's work has been exhibited and is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Whitney Museum of Art. Cleveland Museum of Art, Butler Institute of American Art, the Yale Museum of Art, among others. The Smithsonian possesses the William Schock and Hazel Janicki papers

While traveling in Florida, Hazel Janicki, along with her husband William Schock fell victim to a fatal automobile crash on New Years day Day, 1976