Djurdjević creates realistic portrayals of surreal, unearthly scenes through which she examines the tension that exists in the everyday. In "Moor" (2010) two young girls are lying on their backs in the thicket of a moor, their young bodies slightly submerged in water and intertwining with the surrounding vegetation. Their gaze, empty and dark—as if looking into the abyss—is frontally directed towards the viewer. This striking image is an excellent example of the ways in which Djurdjević’s unique lexicon expresses the inexpressible and confronts the veiled intricacies of the collective subconscious. Using formal tools of classical painting to express the tensions in contemporary society, and with multiple references to the history of Western Art, "Moor" offers a clever analysis of human nature. In that violence is implied through artistic tools, the work suggests a new point of view- that of the perpetrator rather than the victim.

For more than 15 years Biljana Djurdjević has been creating works characterized by a narrative realism that is both dramatic and ruthless. Her 2010 oil painting "Hotbed" depicts a young girl lying in a moor, its waters and flora gently surrounding her still body. Her white pleated school skirt and light top, brush her porcelain-like skin and contrast with her bright red shoes and the vivid greens of the natural surroundings. Splayed on her back with her hands spread out sideways, the girl lies motionless, her face devoid of any expression. The stillness of her body and her empty gaze elicit speculations on what has just occurred.  This enticing and enigmatic painting evokes the works of Pre-Raphaelite painters, with a particular visual reference to John Everett Millais’ iconic painting "Ophelia" from 1851-1852. Derived from pure emotion, the artist creates an eerie effect in which victim and perpetrator are rendered interchangeable and as one and the same.

In "Green Room" three little girls in white school skirts and under shirts are seated frontally on a row of metal bar stools. Their facial features uncannily similar—as if replicated from one another. Their small black eyes stare forward, yet their empty gazes do not return that of the viewer. The decorative green and white background behind them and the patterned floor beneath bring forth a formal dialogue of color and shape while the overall composition invokes the fears and vulnerability of young life. This poignant painting alludes to the practice of ‘systematic examinations’, which was a prevalent, yet invasive, health check for children in the Balkans in the 1990s. 

In "Synchronized Swimming" Biljana Djurdjević continues to explore trauma through the prism of youth and its fragility. Here a group of young girls are lying together on the floor of an empty swimming pool, their bodies arranged in a crown-like formation. Autumn leaves are scattered organically around the pool, functioning as a memento-mori of sorts. This somber and curious scene enfolds in a multitude of layers that slowly unravel in front of the viewer. The adolescent girls embody the concept of youth, the fears and horrors it entails, and the many ways in which we navigate it within our social order of aggression.