Moonlit Tree Trunk 

Editor: This is "Moonlit Tree Trunk" by Eyvind Earle, a painting, probably oil, depicting, well, a tree at night. It has such a striking texture, especially on the bark. How should we approach a work like this? Curator: The painting is stunning. Earle clearly prioritizes process here. Look at how he layers the paint, creating texture. How does this layering change our understanding of the “tree”? Is it still nature, or something else? Editor: It almost doesn’t feel real, maybe that's why it is tagged as surrealist. I think the process of making this becomes really obvious to the viewer, that affects my understanding of it as an organic object... Curator: Exactly! Earle pushes the limits of oil paint here. It's landscape, sure, but consider the industrial processes required to create paint itself. What do those paints, typically manufactured in factories, contribute to what a "landscape" painting can mean, what landscapes mean, and to whom? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way, I guess you're right. It isn't a simple, you know, outdoorsy scene anymore when you factor in the oil paints that have their own backstory of manufacturing and economy, I guess. Curator: The fantasy is born from real material production. So, in thinking about Earle, how might we use a material lens to rethink other landscape painters like Albert Bierstadt or even the Hudson River School? Editor: Wow, so by focusing on material production, we can challenge traditional ideas about nature and art. This has really broadened my thinking. Thanks! Curator: Indeed, understanding the labor and the stuff allows us to rethink aesthetic boundaries, for sure!