T-Rex Is Spraying All Over I.AM.GIA


Your style is rooted in graffiti art and mixed media work. How does your process adapt when the canvas changes from wall to paper to clothing?
Working on paper or canvas, I have a lot more planning involved. Every step is pretty premeditated. While airbrush and spray paint are a lot more explosive. Everything happens in the moment. I was really shitty at it when I started, and I loved that. I felt like a kid again. When classical brush works were feeling too polished, it was the raw style I’d been searching for.
Southern California is a huge part of your identity. What’s the most L.A. thing about this collection?
The snakeskin paisley print. I would get a bunch of black and white bandanas from Santee Alley and use them as canvases. The bandana, for me, has always been an L.A. thing to elevate an outfit. Adding the snakeskin texture really took it to another level.
Your signature Red Vixen makes an appearance in GIA GTA. What does that character represent for you, and why was it important to incorporate here?
Yeah, that’s ‘Her’. ‘Her’ represents a primal energy in all of us. Kind of an alter-ego at this point. Her image definitely aligns with GIA’s darker feminine energy, animalistic prints, and hyper-sexy silhouettes.


What’s your favorite thing about I.AM.GIA?
I love how they always go all out for the campaigns and the parties. How it really feels more like a family than a brand.
Alana was a fan of your work long before you got to collaborate. How did that shape the creative relationship? Did you have a lot of shared instinct from day one?
Yeah, it’s crazy how tapped in [we were]. Like one of the recent paintings I did for her home, the color scheme ended up matching the furniture and decor to a T, having never even seen that room before. Same with the collection, pieces were just flowing. There wasn’t too much back and forth needed.



Angelyne iconically built a career out of appearing on billboards, referring to herself as the “real billboard queen.” In this campaign, she sprawls above Sunset Boulevard in leopard print capris. How do bold iconography and larger-than-life characters fit into your work?
I want my work to be iconic enough to live on for generations, centuries even.
Your art is no stranger to themes like rebellion. What does this collection rebel against most?
I think just wearing the pieces could feel quite edgy for some. Like a superhero suit to literally step in and out of a character.



















