“Michele Elizabeth Field's "Back on Earth" is a monumental, two-panel painting that draws you into an abstract yet deeply evocative landscape. Its vast scale and rich, earthy palette create a sense of both the cosmic and the grounded, inviting contemplation of our place in a boundless world.”
A monumental vision unfolds across two canvases in Michele Elizabeth Field's "Back on Earth." This painting immerses us in a vast, almost cosmic landscape, where abstract forms hint at geological structures and atmospheric phenomena. The scale alone is striking, inviting viewers to step into a world that feels both alien and strangely familiar. Field employs a rich, earthy palette, with deep blues, greens, and ochres blending and contrasting to create a sense of dynamic movement and profound depth. Look closely at how the brushwork builds up textures, suggesting rugged terrain or swirling mists. The composition, split across two panels, creates a subtle tension, as if the landscape itself is too expansive to be contained within a single frame, pushing beyond conventional boundaries to envelop the viewer.
- Artist
- Michele Elizabeth Field
- Date
- 1981
- Medium
- Oil on two canvases
- Location
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Dimensions
- Installed: 306.1 × 342.9 cm (120 9/16 × 135 in.); 306.1 × 342.9 cm (120 1/2 × 135 in.)
What to Notice
Five details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The seam where the two canvases meet, dividing the expansive landscape.
Areas of thick impasto that give texture to the 'earth' and 'sky'.
Subtle shifts in color, from deep forest greens to lighter, almost ethereal blues.
The way abstract forms suggest mountains, clouds, or even bodies of water.
1 more detail is waiting.
See all 5 in Art Whisper →Michele Elizabeth Field
1953–2014Michele Elizabeth Field was a painter whose later work, like 'Back on Earth,' explored themes on two canvases.
Further Works by Field
Foxgloves
2004 · Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Thistles
2004 · Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
White Lilies
2004 · Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Buttercups
2005 · Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Daisies
2005 · Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Irises
2004 · Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Anemones
2006 · Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Poppies
2006 · Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
More works to explore
Beyond Field: works from the same years.
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Four Mona Lisas
Andy Warhol · 1978 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Unfinished painting
Keith Haring · 1989
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Alka Seltzer
Roy Lichtenstein · 1966 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)
Félix González-Torres · 1991
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Corpse and Mirror II
Jasper Johns · 1974 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Untitled (Brown and Gray)
Mark Rothko · 1969 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Wu Street
Xu Bing · 1993 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Olive Picking
Reuven Rubin · 1967 · Rubin Museum
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Krach
Philip West · 1987 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1960s–1990s
A Face from Georgia
Ivan Albright · 1970 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1960s–1990s
It's a New Age
William Hook · 1992 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1960s–1990s
Red Plank
John McCracken · 1969 · Art Institute of Chicago
