"Not really" painting on canvas

NOT REALLY
80 × 120 cm
Oil paint, acrylic paint, dry pastel and compressed charcoal on canvas
Unframed

NOT REALLY is a painting that carries a small sense of irony. It begins from the idea of a still life, but it does not fully behave like one. There are hints of familiar forms, something that could be read as vessels, fruit, a table or objects placed in space, but they never become the main subject in a traditional way.

Instead, the painting is more about surface, layers and the quiet tension between what is visible and what is only suggested. The background becomes just as important as the objects themselves. Brushstrokes, covered areas, rubbed pastel and traces of charcoal create a textured field where the image feels both present and slightly disappearing.

The surface has a strong physical quality, built partly from oil paint underneath. Some areas were later covered with dry pastel in brown and grey tones, then rubbed by hand to reveal the texture beneath more clearly. This process leaves the painting with a raw, worn and layered feeling, where every mark seems to belong to a different moment.

For me, the title NOT REALLY reflects this in-between state. It is a still life, but not really. It shows objects, but not really. It holds something recognisable, while quietly refusing to become too clear or too polite about it.