Arta Ajeti

I make small graphite drawings from a personal archive of photographs that I collect and collage intuitively. The works depict female figures in staged or ambiguous interiors. They may look directly at the viewer or turn away, partially obscured by shadow or fabric. The scale encourages close viewing, and recurring elements such as shiny textiles, stark lighting, compressed spaces, create a sense of suspended or uncertain time.

I often begin with degraded or low-resolution images. Through drawing, I translate and further alter these references, building dense blacks and sharp contrasts that echo the harshness of flash photography. Layering and erasing allow me to distort, refine, and reconstruct the image so that real and imagined elements coexist.

The drawings examine the tension between self-presentation and vulnerability, visibility and concealment. They reflect on how images shape identity and desire, informed by psychoanalysis and contemporary visual culture, and an ongoing interest in cinematic framing and perception.

Arta Ajeti is a Montreal-based artist working primarily in drawing. Her work has been exhibited in group exhibitions. Alongside her studio practice, she has several years of professional experience as an illustrator and tattoo artist. Working across commissioned and reproducible formats has informed her sensitivity to image-making, circulation, and surface.

IG @artawork