Paradise 1995

Eyvind Earle’s ‘Paradise’ emerges with fantastical colours and meticulous detail; it’s almost like a dream you can walk into. I can imagine Earle standing before the canvas, layering stroke upon stroke, conjuring this otherworldly landscape from his imagination. What might he have been thinking as he worked on it? Perhaps reflecting on his childhood spent traveling with his father, a possible escape from real life? The surface is so smooth, the paint applied in thin, careful layers, yet teeming with an explosion of organic forms. There's an otherworldly quality to the piece that makes you wonder about the artist's inner world. The way the light filters through the branches of the overhanging tree is magical. I see the influence of the Hudson River School painters in his romantic sensibility. Like them, Earle invites us to contemplate the sublime beauty of nature. Ultimately, ‘Paradise’ reminds me that artists are in an ongoing conversation across time, inspiring one another to explore new ways of seeing and representing the world around us.