Le phare de Portland Head, 2023

Alain Abramatic  

The Portland Head Lighthouse is one of the most iconic lighthouses on the northeastern coast of the United States, standing at the northern end of the South Portland Harbor channel in Cumberland County, Maine. Isolated on its rocky promontory, the lighthouse stands out against the turbulent sea, like a motionless anchor in the heart of nature's forces. Created in 2023, this 50 × 50 cm work combines oil paint, paper collage, and sand on linen canvas. The lighthouse is depicted figuratively, while its surroundings are rendered in a freer, semi-abstract style. The collaged papers structure the surface of the building and recreate the mineral texture of the stone, lending depth and vibrancy to the structure. The sand, applied with broad, graphic strokes, acts as an expressive material in its own right. It evokes the swell, the sea spray, and the energy of the wind that sweep across the site, while the curved lines in the composition echo the movement of air and water. Sea and sky thus seem to be traversed by the same dynamic, connecting all the elements of the landscape. The palette, dominated by sandy ochres, bluish grays, and luminous whites, creates an atmosphere that is both mineral and luminous. Small dark touches suggest the distant presence of seabirds, reinforcing the feeling of space and solitude. At the boundary between abstraction and figuration, The Portland Head Lighthouse does not seek to precisely depict a place, but rather to convey a sensation: that of a fragile balance between stability and movement, between the permanence of the lighthouse and the changing power of the marine elements.