Born in Halifax and raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Eyland studied art at
Holland College,
Mount Allison University, and the
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. While in school, he was influenced by artists
Robert Morris,
On Kawara and
Daniel Buren. and his drawings and paintings done on the small 3 x 5 index card format. In 2005 his installation
Untitled, consisting of over 1000 paintings, opened at the Winnipeg's
Millennium Library. In 2014, he installed at the
Halifax Central Library where
Library Cards is behind the front desk and
Book Shelf Paintings is on the fifth floor. He also has a smaller
public art commission of 600 painting titled
Sculptures in Landscapes at the Meadows branch of the
Edmonton Public Library. Eyland also hid card drawings in books and card catalogues at the
Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the Library and Archives in Ottawa and the Muttart Library in Calgary. into books in the Library. ,Eyland was a curator and writer as an extension of his artistic practice. Between 1998–2010, he was an associate professor of painting at the University of Manitoba School of Art and director of
Gallery One One One. In 2022 he was the subject of
Cliff: A Portrait of an Artist, a mid-length documentary film by Adam Brooks. == Exhibitions ==