My work establishes a dialogue between artistic practices and other disciplines or fields of activity. I often set up processes, and each project takes on a different form. These processes are connected to formal, symbolic, economic, and political concerns. The functional value of things is also at the core of my proposals, serving as the driving force behind their evolution. The artworks are not static, fixed objects; they interact with reality and are reinvented through their use.
For a long time, I have been working on and around the sea. I spent my childhood on the water and often in it, diving. I worked as a fisherman for 18 months on a trawler in La Turballe. As an artist, I have regularly carried out projects related to the maritime world.
The opportunity to spend time at the Créac’h semaphore was, for me, a chance to be in a place of observation, at the westernmost point of our territory, facing the ocean and its storms.
I conceived my residency as a period that would align with the function of the place—that is, I did not approach it from a production-oriented perspective but rather as a time for reflection and observation.
In winter, at Créac’h, there is the wind, the raging sea, the sea spray sweeping across the watchroom windows, the foghorn just a few dozen meters away, and the lighthouse beam illuminating the landscape at night. From the presence of the lighthouse sweeping over both the landscape and the interior space of the semaphore, I wanted to retain certain images—visions shaped by these unique atmospheres, almost unreal images reflecting the landscape and the omnipresence of the lighthouse’s light. I therefore captured large-format photographs at night, using long exposures (up to 30 minutes) to record the landscape illuminated by the lighthouse beam. During the day, I photographed the coastline and the concrete and stone structures of the old foghorn station at the foot of the lighthouse.
From this period of reflection, the resulting images remain, but above all, it allowed me to initiate research that I continue today on the coastline and the maritime world. I also intend to return to Ouessant as part of the projects I am currently developing.
