Solitude 1997

Eyvind Earle made "Solitude" with paint, crafting a space that's all about being alone with nature. Look at how he builds the landscape – it's like a puzzle, each piece meticulously placed to form a whole. The textures here are amazing; the trees and bushes on the hillside are rendered with a kind of obsessive repetition, like he’s hand-stippling the entire landscape. It gives the whole scene this almost tactile, velvety feel. Then there's that lone horse, a dark silhouette against the bright green field. It's like a full stop at the end of a long, winding visual sentence. Earle reminds me of a few artists, maybe some of the Hudson River School guys, but with a modern twist. He’s part of a lineage, for sure, but doing his own thing with it. It’s a powerful reminder that art isn’t about answers, it’s about inviting questions.