The “image within image” effect creates warm and densely textured drawings, surpassing modern photographic vocabulary and rendering hand-made artistic prowess. These earlier works (drawings on paper) of Ritums Ivanovs explore nudity and tenderness as well as experiment with optical illusion. The charcoal drawings seemingly depict “found” photos of contemporary superstars and models, lying flat on a table, whereas the whole artwork itself is a drawing. A contemporary still life if you will.