artist attempted to capture the wonder seen in “the chronological changing ofthe lunar phases” from a Southwestern perspective.
Niec, who painted from sunset to sunrise eachevening and mixed his colors under the glow of a flashlight, presents hisstudies in oil on wood panels that vary in size and are hand framed in darkwood reclaimed from an old organ. These atmospheric images blend bright cobalt,saturated navy and midnight blues with shades of ebony. Ivory stars andcrescent moons then soften and brighten these sequential night renderings.
The serene evenings in the New Mexico desert portray skies stratifiedwith soft shadows and hazy silhouettes of trees barely visible on Niec’s 26plein air outings that he put to canvas. In StarryNight, Niec revisits a view of midnight in New Mexico void of city lights that dim thedreamlike landscape.
Spiritual and sensual, Niec’s nocturnal perceptionsare soothing and peaceful to viewers. As we have for eons, man continues togaze upward, wishing on heavenly bodies light years from Earth. In quietcontemplation, humanity wonders what lies beyond our tiny habitat in theuniversedivinity or another eternal destiny? Niec’s sensitive responses tothese questions, answered with his lunar observations in oil, continue at DeanJensen Gallery through Nov. 28.
