I’ve been working with Ricky at Nicety before I actually knew I was working with him. Ricky has been coming to Southern California multiple times a year to stock rare brands and items for his shop in Japan since the mid-90s. In that time, he purchased some shirts from GCS (formerly known as The Globe) in Downtown Pomona, and as luck would have it, some of those shirts were designed by yours truly. We reconnected years later through the late Griz at Hutch LA and have been working together (and trying tacos together) since.

He’s carried my designs for quite some time, and we decided to show some of my original works during a visit there. At the time, I lived in East LA proper and would show art at his shop with the show name “From East Los with Love.” Eventually, I moved and didn’t want to use that name anymore, but we had another art exhibition coming up. We talked about it, and the conversation quickly turned to “what's it called?” I told Ricky I wanted it to immediately give the feeling of “something LA,” so both his customers in Japan and people from my area could sense the localism immediately. As someone who’s been running around LA most of my life, I wanted to convey my views on a city that have been told a million different ways without giving in to stereotypes. He agreed, but mostly to just using the name “Something LA.” I thought it was funny, and off we went.

I try to mash three distinct directions in Something LA pieces: my love of obscure Japanese culture, my love for Los Angeles from growing up here, and 90s-era low riding. I then cook it down into my distinct black and white art style, and we have Something LA. To me, the references are quite apparent (obviously), but it’s always fun to see people react to catching a certain piece from a very niche cultural puzzle.

In my eyes, there are so many stories to explore in the world Something LA has created for me and I’m excited to try out more ideas in the future. If you’ve been a fan of my work for a while or are just discovering it I hope you can enjoy the journey while I continue working within the concept.

2024 T-shirt, Canvas print and Towel available now while supplies last. Click here to purchase.

T shirt modeled by Amy.