Spot of Magic 

Here we see Eyvind Earle’s landscape “Spot of Magic”. It immerses us in a densely detailed and vividly colored natural scene. Earle’s arrangement of shapes and colours encourages us to consider questions about form and representation. Notice how the forms create a balance between representation and abstraction. Do the meticulously placed trees, bushes and spots of light depict a real place? Or do they evoke a more symbolic, emotional, and idealized space? The painting invites us to consider the semiotic system of signs, where the visual elements function as cultural codes which may have informed the painting’s making and reception. Through our interpretation and re-interpretation, the painting’s meaning is dynamic rather than fixed.