Seaside, Fluorescent Orange Persistence
Acrylic on canvas, 160 × 120 cm
Series Pink Hours
Contemporary landscape painting

Also titled Fluorescent Orange Persistence Through the Pines, this large-scale painting by Hélène Vac is part of the Pink Hours series, exploring atmospheric coastal landscapes through colour and perception.

The composition unfolds through successive spatial planes, reinforced by strong colour contrasts that create both depth and a stage-like effect. Fluorescent orange dominates the surface, extending across the sea and horizon as a powerful visual field.

This intense orange, both matte and vibrant, introduces a perceptual ambiguity. Rather than dissolving into the sky, the horizon appears to move forward, visually collapsing depth and altering the viewer’s spatial reading. This shift creates a tension between distance and proximity, giving the landscape an unreal, almost dreamlike quality.

Recognisable elements such as trees, foliage, and sky remain present, yet are transformed by the saturation of colour. The coastal landscape becomes less descriptive and more experiential, shaped by light, atmosphere, and memory.

Executed in acrylic on canvas, the painting combines flat colour fields and visible gestures. The artist works through layering and simplified forms, allowing colour to act as the primary structuring force.

Balancing between figurative painting and abstraction, the work reflects a contemporary approach to landscape, focusing on perception, colour relationships, and spatial tension.

This piece invites the viewer into an immersive visual experience, where fluorescent colour, gesture, and light redefine the boundaries of landscape painting.