Harmony is what happens when four strong-willed colours of good pedigree commit to staying in the room together.

Creating We Are the Earth meant taking a scraper to the colour wheel and paring it back to just four special paints:

• Indian yellow – transparent and juicy, like sunlight pickled in honey

• Burnt sienna – semi-transparent, earthy and smoky, with the quiet confidence of red clay after rain

• Zinc white – soft-spoken and translucent, a white that knows when to stay quiet so others can sing

• Chromatic black – brewed from opposites (phthalo emerald and quinacridone red), rich as espresso and just as deep.

That’s the whole cast. No cobalt. No fluoro. No Cerulean blues. No Prussian enigmas.

What emerges is subtle. These transparent pigments layer like conversations that matter. They build depth. They build memory. They pull warmth out of nowhere and find their tone in one another.

It works because harmony comes from not having everything. It comes from having just enough–and knowing what you’re going to do with it.

Oil, alkyd and polyurethane on foam-backed 4 mm ACM sheet.

Find installation info here.