Purple Eucalyptus 1987

Eyvind Earle made this painting, Purple Eucalyptus, with a precise and almost illustrative approach to layering color. The painting's surface is smooth, with each color block carefully placed, building up a sort of fantastical landscape. The color palette is unusual; these purples and blues create a dreamlike, almost otherworldly feel. Look at the lower sections of the rolling hills, where Earle plays with a striking contrast, revealing a surprising underlayer of red, a bold choice that feels both unexpected and completely right. Earle's style reminds me a little of Hilma af Klint, in that both artists constructed their own unique way of seeing the world through symbolic color and form, and both allow for ambiguity, which means that the real meaning isn't pinned down. It's out there, floating.