What started as a Christmas gift for my wife has grown into an ongoing art series collected by fans around the world. Memes of the Floating World reimagines internet memes through the visual language of traditional Japanese ukiyo-e printmaking, combining centuries-old composition, brushwork, and calligraphy with the shared culture of the modern internet.
It All Started With a Vegetal-Hating Cat
My wife had hinted that she would love a piece of original artwork for Christmas, and she could not stop laughing at the now-famous Woman Yelling at Cat meme. Instead of simply drawing the meme, I had a different idea.
What if it had been created in Edo-period Japan?
The one that started it all. Woman Yelling at Cat - Ukiyo-e style - 2020
I reimagined the meme as a traditional ukiyo-e woodblock print, using a signature blend of traditional ink and painting techniques, digital processes, and found objects like vintage paper and fabric textures. Thinking a few people online might appreciate the joke, we shared it on Reddit.
Within hours, thousands of people had seen it. The comments quickly shifted from lolz to “How can I buy this?”
This diptych became the beginning of Memes of the Floating World.
Cat in the Mirror, 2024 / Doge, 2024
The Floating World Revisited
Ukiyo-e belonged to the popular culture of Edo-period Japan, depicting actors, folklore, horror stories, animals, and everyday life. The subject matter of the most popular memes are surprisingly similar, turning famous faces, frustrations, creepypastas, and shared experiences into instantly recognizable images. Memes of the Floating World brings these traditions together through the drama, humor, and beauty of the classical print.
This is Fine, 2023 / Not Doing It, 2023
"Impeccable. Stunning. Profound. Historically accurate."
Etsy Customer
Longcat vs. Tacgnol - 2022
I Can’t Go Out. I Have a Cat on My Kimono - 2023
Hakujaden (The Serpent Princess) - 2024 / Huh Cat - 2025
"My kids think this is awesome, my wife not so much, at least not in the dining room."
Etsy Customer
Is This a Butterfly? - 2021
When the Sun Hits Just Right - 2024
The Floating World Expands
Memes of the Floating World has grown from a single print into an independent art brand spanning fine art prints, apparel, stickers, stationery, exhibitions, and retail collabs. The work is now displayed in thousands of homes, offices, fine restaurants and local dives around the world. Apparel and other merch has been carried by major retailers including Hot Topic and Spencer’s. What began as an art experiment has become a living visual identity that expands ever further into the digital primordial soup in which it was born.
Invite the strange dreamscape of Memes of the Floating World into your own home.
