Japanese artist Marefumi Komura creates textured, expressive portraits with an arresting presence. With their faces obscured and mouths agape, the subjects appear in states of agony — Komura’s loose, generous brushstrokes make them appear disfigured or swathed in gauze or fabric. This style stems from Komura’s reaction to the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan, when the artist visited the devasted areas and saw the destruction firsthand. Take a look at some of the paintings below, images courtesy of Marefumi Komura.