April Gornik is acclaimed for her highly stylized and conceptually driven landscapes that evoke the mysteries and splendor of the natural world. With an emphasis on light and atmosphere and unspoiled nature, her work is self-consciously informed by the 19th- and early 20th century American landscape tradition, which saw nature’s grandeur as a metaphor for human emotion and spirituality. Gornik is especially drawn to the aesthetic and formal conventions of Luminism, a realist landscape style associated with the Hudson River School that featured expansive vistas, tranquil settings, and a distinctive clarity of light. Gornik’s uninhabited landscapes blend observed reality with a synthesized visualization of the natural world, beckoning the viewer to enter a strange, but still familiar realm. Indeed, her landscapes possess a dreamlike tranquility, a timeless world of light and sky, land and water.
![Sky and Mirror [working proof 5], April Gornik, 1998](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/e7898458-2ffb-470c-98cf-604f98bee88d/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Sky and Mirror [preparatory drawing], April Gornik, 1998](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/cb612fef-c3d0-4c0b-92bf-cdb729ff8e89/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Sky and Mirror [working proof 4], April Gornik, 1998](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/f68ccd03-a559-4440-b9b4-2b0c5e531daa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Sky and Mirror [working proof 6], April Gornik, 1998](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/91325e40-571c-4cee-8671-86364fd69a28/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Sky and Mirror [working proof 7], April Gornik, 1998](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/563e65b5-f1a4-4f1c-9826-4fb94f327a15/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Sky and Mirror [working proof 1], April Gornik, 1998](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ce2b2c6f-7b19-4451-9e3e-d252eabeff52/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Sky and Mirror [working proof 3], April Gornik, 1998](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/e136e932-bb6a-45ce-9234-27dab66fadfb/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
