Wojnarowicz first gained public attention in the early 1980s on the streets of downtown New York through his handmade posters and graffiti murals. One of four paintings in a series titled The Four Elements, Earth contains natural, mythic, and symbolic references to profit-driven land extraction, such as an excavator truck, coal, and a cowboy on a bull. This imagery is paired with personal and cultural emblems that recur throughout his work: a ribcage, a derailed train, and a Native American icon emerging from roots and rubble.