Words by Melissa Williams

Reyes is a graffiti artist born and bred in California and the Midwest of the USA. He has an incredibly unique approach to writing and mixes graffiti elements with fine art and design. Graphotism talks to him about the progression of graffiti, the differences in writing around the world and his approach to art.

What sort of environment did you grow up in and, generally speaking, how do you think that influenced your art?

I grew up in the Midwest Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be exact. My entire family had been living in that part of the United States. My first introduction to artwork came from my grandmother. She painted watercolours of roses. Those paintings were my earliest memories of colour and movement. Around the age of ten I moved to southern California, and I was sent to live with my father who was a bachelor and a businessman. He was always out and I got into graffiti with some kids who lived around my neighborhood. To sum this all up, my environment was fragmented between the Midwest and California, where I met people that I model myself after. Without all these experiences there would be no Reyes

What was your approach graffiti when you first started?

My approach to graffiti when I started was simple: I really wanted to emulate everything I saw from AWR. The first round of the crew were making breakthroughs in style, form and colour. Back then, the world view of graffiti was far smaller. There was just a few magazines, books and videos. There was no internet to set a global standard, so graffiti was far more regional. I would draw all the time, trying to make my letters look better and then hit the streets to practice for real.

Did you set any lifetime graffiti goals for yourself at that point, and have you achieved any as yet?

I set a couple of standing goals for myself at the time I entered into the graffiti world. I never wanted to quit writing and I wanted to have a unique dynamic style. All of my heroes that I looked up to were pioneering style and spots. I basically wanted to add something to the whole community and make graffiti magic one day. I have been diligent about keeping busy with my work; I am still writing often and my style has gotten better. However, I believe that I have a long way to go with my style.

Who were some of your heroes when you started and why do you think that they were inspirational to you?

Some of my heroes from my early days are Eklips, BlesSaber, Gkae, Krush, Coax, Myte, Tyke and Sumit. I was inspired by each for different reasons. Gkae was - and still is - a master bomber. This guy is unstoppable… a true king. Eklips is the mastermind behind the entire operation and a style master; he was the guy who was inspiring all of the first generation guys’ fonts tags and alphabets. Bles was the first member from AWR to move to San Francisco and king the city. Over all, most of my heroes came from AWR. Those were the big dogs around me when I was a kid.

The FULL interview with REYES appears in issue 52 of Graphoism magazine - click here to purchase your copy www.graphotism.com/Subscribe-Graphotism-or-MyNameIs-Magazine.74.0.html