Retrospective in Charcoal by Bianca ter Riet

About "Retrospective in Charcoal"

by Bianca ter Riet

About the artwork

A moment caught between breath and thought - that is what "Retrospect in Charcoal" radiates. The woman in this work turns her head over her shoulder, her gaze half caught in the invisible field beyond the canvas. There is something challenging in her pose, but also something fragile - as if she is aware of her own strength as well as the gaze of the person watching her.

The artist uses charcoal and acrylic paint in a subtle dialogue: the soft, powdery black of the charcoal exudes spontaneity and vulnerability, while the white paint strokes, applied with a palette knife, bring a sense of rhythm and movement. These white layers are not meant to hide, but to reveal - they sweep across the beige background like memories that refuse to disappear completely.

The woman seems portrayed not to be recognised, but to be felt. Her raised black hair, with a few loose strands falling along her neck, reinforces the feeling of an intimate moment that has just passed. She does not look directly at the viewer, but through them - as if her gaze comes from a memory momentarily returned, drawn in shades of grey, white and black.

The loose strokes, the breathing space between the lines, allow the background to speak. Beige and white flow together to create an atmosphere of stillness and reflection. In that simplicity lies a depth - a sense that what we see is not just a face, but an emotion, a thought, an echo of something once present.

"Looking Back in Charcoal" is an ode to the subtlety of expression: the moment when a line says more than words, and a glance blurs the line between past and present.

Created by Bianca ter Riet with support from AI.