Juri Ueda is another artist I discovered thanks to LA gallery Black Maria. Ueda studied illustration in San Francisco and now lives in Osaka, Japan. Her work looks straight out of one of my favorite art book, Drop Dead Cute which features the work of some of Japan’s new leading female artists.
The book’s description could be aptly applied to Ueda’s work as it “combines the pop charge of Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara with a thrilling personal mixture of sweetness and power… blend(ing) aspects of manga, anime, and traditional art with their own idiosyncratic visions…”
This new wave of Japanese female artists has created a world that combines cartoons and fairy tales and mixes innocence and with emotional depth. At first glance this art may seem totally rosy and sweet but there is sadness, loneliness and heartbreak too.
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Juri sells prints and originals on her etsy shop.