Into the Eight Hells (DOOM)

Artist: Jed Henry
Title: Into the Eight Hells (DOOM)
Print: open edition giclée on handmade Japanese paper, signed by the artist
Print Size: 31.5 x 43 cm (approx.)
Framed Size: 47 x 60 cm (approx.)

Standard frame: black mini retro frame with white mat

Note from the artist on this work:

Japanese prints have a long history of hyper-violent, blood-soaked imagery. Just google "Kyosai face rip" or "Yoshitoshi murders" and you'll quickly get the point.

Because of this established genre in Ukiyo-e, it wasn't a big jump to adapt this game series into the traditional Japanese style. It came pretty naturally!

The top caption reads 八熱地獄深入, which translates to 'Into the Eight Levels of Hell'. Many sects of Japanese Buddhism describe a Hell that is separated into eight different realms:

Toukatsu Jigoku – The Reviving Hell

Kokujou Jigoku – The Hell of Black Rope

Shugou Jigoku – The Crushing Hell

Kyoukan Jigoku – The Screaming Hell

Dai-kyoukan Jigoku – The Hell of Great Screaming

Jounetsu Jigoku – The Burning Hell

Dai-jounetsu Jigoku – The Great Burning Hell

Mugen Jigoku – The Hell of Unending Suffering

The bottom caption has the characters 斬 (to kill by the sword) and 裂 (to tear). Together, the caption can be translated to say "Rip and Tear".