“E-girls" are a relatively new pop culture phenomenon and internet subculture comprised of cosplayers engaged in sex work fulfilling your anime wet dreams, emo 2.0 fashion enthusiasts live-streaming your favorite games, and everything in between. What they all have in common is their chronic online presence, emphasized by the "E" in their name, which stands for "electronic." Like many things that are popular, E-Girls are polarizing. Did Belle Delphine give rise to a generation of empowered women autonomously choosing how to make a living with their bodies, or did she encourage vanity and air-headedness?
The polarizing nature of these characters further fuels the artist's desire to paint them. In history, being the subject of a painting was reserved for the societal elite or religious figures, and there was a reverence to the subject painted. Since one of the common criticisms of E-girls is their perceived lack of class and obsession with garnering attention through unconventional means for women, the artist finds it amusing to portray them loosely, leaving the brushstrokes visible; reminiscent of traditional physical paintings from the past.
Nothing is black or white, but the artist genuinely appreciates their cute and sexy aesthetic, their embrace of the dark and macabre, and celebrates their fierce sense of self-expression. E-girls are creative, confident, and unapologetically themselves.
