Sailing On Time

My painting “Sailing On Time” (The Ocean of Ages)” draws direct inspiration from this excerpt of Lamartine’s poem, “Le lac”:

“Thus, forever driven towards new shores,
In the eternal night swept away, never to return,
Shall we never cast anchor on the ocean of ages,
For a single day?”

My artwork evokes humanity’s endless quest to find and give meaning to its life, to fathom the ocean of existence stretching before it—at times serene, at others tumultuous.

For most, the ocean is linked to blue and green hues. Yet, by intent, I have chosen to go “against the current” in my work, using warm colours (shades of red and pink, yellow, orange), tinged with mystery (nuances of violet). Only hints of blue and green draw a dividing line, a wave-shaped boundary on this sea of life. Indeed, our existence is woven of crests and troughs, of dreams that seem unreachable, of material or psychological barriers that hold us back from progressing as we wish, as we had “planned”…

The mood of this painting is thus purposefully enigmatic, strange, captivating—entirely symbolic. Not a single figurative element appears upon the canvas, which is simply composed of curves and of horizontal and diagonal lines.
This piece holds but one aim: to invite the viewer to reflect on the human condition, on the choices we make and the paths we follow—or that are thrust upon us—when we set out toward a serene adventure, upon an ocean we imagined tranquil and “rosy.”