"Legend of Hackberry Tree"

Indeed, it is about seeing the powerful force of life ,triumphant over death and over other participants in the sinuous dance of living. Six kinds of vines attacking a tree.

Because I despise impressionistic painting I sat there for a very long month taking in and noting morphology of that hackberry as if it was a most engaging nude.

Henryk M Fantazos’ "Legend of Hackberry Tree" is as thematically complex as the twisted and constricting branches that wind their way across its surface. There is an inherent contradiction to the visual impact of the work. The emphasis on unrestrained natural growth is indicative of life. However, the painting's subject can readily be described as death and decay. The skeleton of an abandoned and deteriorating house subtly intrudes from the left-hand side of the canvas (this subtly resides in the structure's chromatic similarity to its environment).

Furthermore, the mass of gnarled branches dominating the canvas are not leafless and lifeless because of seasonal cycles (note the greenness of the grass), but instead the victims of murderous life. The sinisterly beautiful vines that wrap around the barren trees are not friendly neighbors but violent intruders. They strangle the proud and venerable trunks in a visually inviting death grip. "Legend of Hackberry Tree" explores death through the illusion of life.