Gigantic Atlantic

FACE WEST AND OUT TO SEA, A GREAT OCEAN LIES BEFORE YOU, IMMENSE IN DEPTH AND DISTANCE. STANDING ON THE SHORELINE, ARTIST MAGDALENA MOREY REGARDS THE VASTNESS OF THE SEASCAPE BENEATH THE COLOURS OF A SETTING SUN

Words: CAROLYN KAIN

MAGDALENA Morey’s paintings recreate impressions of the ever-changing panorama looking out to sea. An international artist with a Masters Degree in Art and a Diploma in Textiles, she has lived and painted in Poland, England, Switzerland, Andalucía and Asturias in Spain.

Expressing a reaction to the sun setting over the Atlantic Ocean, one of nature’s most awe inspiring sights: “There is always some aspect of my own internal state of being that is represented in my work,” she says.

Statistics may be less impressive than a sunset but it is worth reporting that the Atlantic Ocean covers 20 per cent of the Earth’s surface. For the mathematically minded that’s 85,133,000 sq km. Flowing more quickly than the Amazon River, the Gulf Stream is one of the fastest sea currents in the world. Beneath the waves the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the planet’s longest mountain range at four times the length of the Himalayas. It extends roughly from Iceland to a point south of Argentina, and despite its depth can be seen from satellite imagery.

Not that Portugal’s earliest explorers knew any of these facts. Leaving from Lisbon in the year 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral made one of the most astonishing journeys. Leaving from mainland Portugal, he crossed the equator into the South Atlantic Ocean and after travelling more than 7,000km he touched land in what is now Porto Seguro, Brazil. At the time he thought he was on an island but he was mistaken. Cabral is officially credited as the first European to reach the continent of South America.

More recently, in December 2022 to be precise, a message in a bottle arrived at the end of a similarly long journey. Travelling in the opposite direction from Cabral, it left North America and came ashore landing on a beach near Setúbal on Portugal’s West coast. It was thrown into the Gulf Stream by a high-school student aboard a pleasure boat off the coast of North Carolina. The bottle set off on an epic voyage lasting two and half years. It was found by Elena Bretan who used the message inside the bottle to contact the student’s school. By now the young man had graduated and the school could only say he was last heard of fishing in the Bahamas! One wonders if the urge to send another message might come over him again.

Meanwhile, from the beach to her studio, Magdalena transfers anticipation into abstract paintings using a whole variety of media, including water colours, pastels, acrylics and gold leaf.

Her paintings of the Ocean are currently on display at Galeria Côrte- Real on the outskirts of the protected village of Paderne. The short journey from the EN125 to Paderne follows a route through some charming Algarve countryside.

About The Artist

What sights inspire you most, and in what way?

I’m an avid explorer and in my landscape work, I’m continually drawn to horizons and how they lead our imagination to explore the possibilities of what lies beyond.

Do you know what you want at the start of a new work, or do things just ‘happen’?

With landscapes, I almost always base the compositions and overall forms on photos I’ve taken when we've been travelling. The colours are more emotionally driven and there’s often a period of uncertainty whilst I find a palette and colour balance that satisfactorily represents my state of mind.

What is the biggest painting you have done, and where is it?

The largest was 150x150cm and was at Côrte Real Gallery. I believe it’s now been sold to a collector in the Algarve.

And the smallest?

The smallest I do are 20x20cm which I sell online via my website.

Your favourite materials?

I’m very much a mixed media artist and I’ve recently been starting to incorporate more organic material in my work.