Harita Asumani - Painting Study No. 1

Original pencil drawing on an A4 notebook page. Created with a single, fluid line, the composition emphasizes the relationship between figure, gesture, and negative space. The drawing was conceived as a study for a large-scale painting, preserving the immediacy and intimacy of the creative process.

The artwork is not framed. The framed images are mockups showing how the drawing could look when presented in a frame.

Biography

Harita Asumani (b. 1992, Plovdiv, Bulgaria) is a visual artist based in Genoa, Italy. She holds a Master of Arts in Costume Design (2017) and a Bachelor of Arts in Stage Design (2015), both from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia. A period of academic mobility at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia (2014) marked a turning point in her practice, where portraiture emerged as a central concern.

Asumani's residencies and exchange projects have accompanied and informed the evolution of her work. Awarded a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2017) upon completing her studies, she deepened her engagement with portraiture and line. Her participation in the bilateral art exchange Urban Mythologies, Plovdiv — Timișoara (2023), alongside artists from Romania and Bulgaria, reflects a more categorical and introspective shift — from the portrait of the other toward self-portraiture and autobiographical imagery. Her residencies also include Little Bird Place, Leshten (2020), and Via Pontica, Balchik (2014).

Her work explores the emotional dimensions of human experience through self-portraiture, tracing a path between personal introspection and broader social narratives. Recurring themes of freedom, eroticism, love, and play run through her practice.