Painting to find home.

JUURI is a Japanese+American muralist and artist working from Oklahoma City OK in the US. The traditional culture of her home country of Japan, interwoven with her Western upbringing, deeply informs JUURI’s aesthetic. After earning a BA in graphic design and working in the commercial art world for several years, JUURI decided to pursue her original love of fine art in 2010. In 2014, she was invited to paint her first mural on Western Avenue in Oklahoma City. JUURI has now painted over 30 large-scale artworks all over the US and overseas, creating with a paintbrush her own type of “home” that goes beyond geographical borders. During the off-season, she still creates studio artworks— shipping them from her home studio to collectors all over the world.

JUURI’s work consists of serene face layered with opulent flora, traditional patterns, and graphic motifs. She is greatly influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e and the subgenres of yakusha-e (kabuki actor pictures), bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women), yokai-ga (pictures of folklore monsters), and musha-e (pictures of warriors.) Her works impart a sense of peace and stability, as she believes that cultural traditions are a sound anchor even in the tumult of the modern world. She works in both traditional and digital media—her creativity even spilling over into fashion accessories and NFTs. Her instantly recognizable works have found partnerships with Netflix productions, NatureLab TOKYO hair products, countless blogs and news stories; and have even found their way into celebrity art collections worldwide.

In the future, JUURI hopes to collaborate with many more Japanese/Asian brands, paint in Japanese cities in need of tourism revitalization, and to spread the beauty of timeless culture to the far corners of the earth.

For a worldwide map of JUURI’s murals, click here.

Artist Statement

I am JUURI, a Japanese+American artist creating larger-than-life murals and vibrant studio paintings. My work is deeply informed by the traditional culture of Japan, seen through the lens of my Western upbringing. I hold onto this culture as a source of quiet strength in a chaotic world often consumed by the “new.”

I vividly remember the day I left Japan at six years old. I felt sick in the car on the way to the airport, only to face the shock that my beloved grandmother wasn’t actually coming with us. The warmth of home slipped away in a flood of tears as I left the only country I had ever known. Though I eventually found my place in America, my longing for the place of my birth never fades. I miss it every day—my dear friends and family, the charming neighborhoods, the shadowy forests, and the millenia-old traditions found nowhere else on earth.

So to me, my art is more than an expression or a career. It is my way of saving myself; my way of making my way back home to the place I left behind.

Since 2014, I have traveled to paint my Japanese themes all over the world. I hope viewers of my work can reflect on the beauty of the timeless, consider the traditions that shape us, and find peace.

Mural Festivals

· Creative Concord (Concord, CA 2024)
· Wuppertal Tanzt (Wuppertal, Germany 2024)
· Sunnydaze Mural Festival (Ponca City, OK 2024)
· Up Here (Ontario, Canada 2023)
· Titan Walls (Chicago, IL 2022)
· Plaza Walls Mural Expo (Oklahoma City, OK 2018 & 2021)
· Momentum Toledo (Toledo, OH 2021)
· Streetwise Boulder (Boulder, IN 2021)
· Art This Way (Fort Wayne, IN 2020)
​· Walls For Women (Tullahoma, TN 2020)
· Ladies Who Paint (San Diego, CA 2019)
· Sprocket Mural Works (Harrisburg, PA 2019)
· Wabash Walls (Lafayette, IN 2019)
· ViBe Creative District Mural Festival (Virginia Beach, VA 2019)
· Mural Fest 66 (Miami, OK 2019)
· Artists4Israel (Israel, 2018 & 2019)
· Beyond Walls (Lynn, Massachusetts 2018)
· Taste of Western (Oklahoma City, OK 2014)

Selected Group Exhibitions

· “My First Art” (group exhibition, Isetan Gallery, Tokyo Japan) Dec 2023-24
· “Beyond The Wall” (group exhibition, Morikami Art Museum & Gardens, FL) May 2022

As Seen In

· NatureLab Tokyo interview
· “Hit & Run” (Netflix, main character tattoo design)
· OETA Gallery America (from 7:20)
· EBIZO TV (Celebrity YouTube channel, Japan)
· Forbes Magazine (online)
· Google Arts & Culture
· Bonita & Estero Magazine (FL) (Cover)
· 405 Magazine (pg. 48-49)
· Art Focus Oklahoma (pg. 8-9)
· KFOR (Oklahoma City news story)
· Makers & Mystics (Podcast)