Mysterious Girl! "Relentless - Yousha Nashi -"

"Relentless -Yousha Nashi-" | Mixed media on wood panel | 18x24"

I made this unprecedented-ly wild (for me) painting to explore a grim topic that I had been thinking about lately. That is illegal drugs. I realize that it's a bit weird for an artist to be so opposed to drugs, (aren't we all supposed to smoke weed and say f*** the police all the time whilst creating angst-y, shocking works?) Maybe so, but I've never fit in with the crowd.

Anyway, I currently live in the state which is ranked #1 for drug abuse in the entire country, and this entire country is #1 for illegal drug consumption in this whole world. I had never known those facts before. But I do now. It bothers me a lot to see so many mentally distressed people wandering the streets in my city, many who got into their present condition from years of drug abuse.

So, back to the (mostly symbolic) painting: my scary AR-15 wielding girl is several people at once: Mexico's Santa Muerte, Japanese folklore monster Hone-Onna (bone-woman), with a touch of a modern Grim Reaper, the Angel of Death, and Lady Justice all rolled into one peony-crowned girl with a ferocious, confident stare and skeleton hands. I believe everyone who traffics or manufactures drugs for profit without regard to the suffering it causes will all be punished somehow in the end. In the real world, the punisher won't be a pretty slight girl like the one in this painting... that's just my JUURI imagination working as usual.

I hope you like the look of her face and the vivid colors. I had a lot of fun creating this beautiful yet somber piece. Hopefully it reminds people that justice is coming.

<3 JUURI