Aya Ito employs multiple mediums to create her paintings. Each work begins with a carefully arranged tableau of sculptural maquettes, drawings, ceramics, and collages, which she then photographs from various angles before settling upon a composition she will paint—a process she calls “photo-drawing”. Her works are populated with uncanny figures that resemble ghosts and sprits, borrowing from Japanese traditions. Ito believes, however, that her work is informed by realism more than her imagination, and that they have no explicit narratives or messages. The central subjects of her works are the moods they suggest, which Ito describes as “mild, serious, and silly.”