There was a time when one of the most prestigious stations an artist could achieve was portraitist for the rich and famous. Now we call those people paparazzi. Today, when we all produce images of ourselves at an astounding rate and depictions of our icons are made in massive volume by corporate visual content creators, the notion of portraiture is more complicated. We are in need of new ways of depicting iconic figures.

Reeno first broke onto the scene by coming up with some of these new ways. First introductions were made in a bright and whimsical illustration style at a time Reeno now sees as a period of study. That style has dropped away into something less starry-eyed.

Darkness is a throughline of Reeno’s recent work. His I’MMADTOO series depicts recognizable icons with faces demonically warped, an entirely new form of portraiture. For a recent 424 collaboration these images were applied to garments in expertful ghostly airbrush. Instead of celebrating an iconic face, these works speak to the way than an obsession with celebrity haunts us, our culture, our objects.

Coming of age in the cultural industries is always a process of metamorphosis, and more than just a compelling new portraitist, Reeno is a creative brimming with ideas. His ‘Darkest Outfit’ project delivered exactly what its title claims. He’s designed belt buckles, inventive projector invitations, and recently completed a degree in Industrial Design from RISD. The ideas are coming quicker these days, and Reeno increasingly has the experience to execute.

On the cusp of the rest of his career, we spoke with Reeno about his life, times, practice, system of industry ethics, and more.

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Welcome: What’s your story?

Reeno: My name is Sam and I'm an artist.

Welcome: Where are you from? Where are you based now?

Reeno: I’m originally from West Palm Beach, Florida. I'm in LA now. I just moved here.

Welcome: From where?

Reeno: I was in Rhode Island at RISD, to be an industrial designer.

What was your experience at RISD like?

Awesome. It’s perfect cause I always just want to make for me. Industrial Design taught me how to make for you. It’s a nice balance.

Have the principles or experiences you had in that program impacted your artistic practice?

Things I make for others have to work properly. Anything I make for myself is emotional. The Darkest Outfit is both, it’s a fabric usually used for product photography, ‘cause it’s so dark. They almost refused to sell it to me when I said it’s for clothes. It delayed the production because I had to convince them on a new idea. But it’s worth it. I love new.

Tell us a little bit more about that Darkest Outfit project.

That’s a great product. There’s not much to say, I don’t want to put it up on a pedestal. I had an idea and made it with my friends then dropped it. My goal is to be putting out so many ideas that there's not just one idea that's a talking point. If I don’t think, I bet I can drop a Darkest Outfit level piece every few weeks. You got to just trust the ideas. If nothing can go wrong, I'm very bored and I won't do it.

Your art style has evolved over the years. How would you describe the style that you began with?

Romantic. When I was growing up I made art about what happened, now I’m making art about what’s coming. When you’re young you just study, but it comes to a point where you got to make something for other people to study.

What are a couple pivotal moments that stand out in your journey?

There are four that stand out: Getting into RISD, working with Ye, doing the I’MMADTOO series, and getting the email from my professor saying I couldn't go to Paris.

RISD was my dream school, and I worked really hard in high school to get in. It was the hardest worst time of my life but most productive.

Working with Ye was my childhood dream, it seemed so out of reach. He hit me up when I was 19.

For the I’MMADTOO series, the time from having the idea and putting out the art was probably 45 minutes.

Then the Paris moment. My professor said if I went to Paris for fashion week he’d drop me from the class… Even though it was a film class and I could have just watched ‘Apocalypse Now’ or whatever in France. So I dropped the class and went anyway, and posted this pic where I printed his email into a blunt and smoked it in front of the Eiffel Tower. I went on suspension for that. But I graduated. The point through all of these moments is self-trust. As an artist, you can be kind but always have a “fuck you” ready for anyone in any moment. Otherwise, you got no vision and no respect, you got nothing, you’re dead.

The I’MMADTOO series. You said 45 minutes from idea to post. What were those 45 minutes like? How did you make those visuals, if you’re at liberty to say?

I am at liberty but it’s pointless to talk about. I had people asking me for months how I made that. Stop asking how, figure something out and put it out. People use questions as excuses. I saw the Queen died and I got the feeling to make the image. I saw it and made it in the way I knew how and just put it out. I don’t mean to sound rude I just see the potential in everyone, especially artists. I know what it’s like to be scared to put out ideas, but just focus, everything will get better. I hate an afraid artist.

What do you think resonated with people about that series as a whole?

I don't know because I have other things that I like that don't resonate. So I don’t think about it. On to the next piece.

How has your practice of portraiture kind of evolved over time?

I think through heartbreak, you know, growing up. You grow up and life isn’t just bright, there’s dark too. Shit is not all nice like a 2018 Reeno poppy color artwork, you know, there's different sides to everything. But that doesn't mean there's not still happiness and colorful things in the future.

Where do you think the urge, particularly among the youth, to idolize their icons by reproducing images of them comes from, and why is it so strong right now?

I like that you added “right now.” It really feels strong. Look at social media. It’s 5 posts of highlight reel and each one does a little to break your self-esteem, then they hit you with that ad. You can’t be sold something when you’re already whole, so they must profit off you feeling less than. In a place like that, it’s easier than ever to lean on someone else for inspiration. Obsession is so easy.

You posted on X that the ‘music scene is hard to navigate for someone who's trying to be a good person.’ What sort of experiences have you had that have made you feel that way?

It’s full of liars and it’s hard to beat that. I resent the palace intrigue in the music industry. Everybody wants to stay close to the king. People will go around you to turn in worse work just to have their own name on it. That’s pathetic to me. I always want the best work to make it to the world, whether or not it’s mine. Truth is as you move up it’s harder to be noble. Usually you don’t get more brave as you get more protected.

As someone who's had great success within the industry, Is there anything that you would offer to kids who are at that age that you were when you started? What's something that you would say to them?

Figure out your real friends before you go up. It’s usually 2 to 5. Stick with them the whole way. Everyone else is using each other. I don’t even mean that in a sad way, it’s just helpful to know business is business. You know? If you’re a normal person, money, fame and success alone isn’t enough to drive you. That’s just a shallow aspect of something that matters, like helping your people and making them proud.

Tell us a little bit about your collaborative relationship with Reduciano.

We just share a brain. We don't even share a brain. We are the same brain. His work is my work and my work is his work. Always back-and-forth. It’s been that way since 2020 when we first met.

Working creatively with a second person is a sort of skill in and of itself. What have you learned about creative partnership over the past few years?

It really is priceless. I think about that a lot. If Diego wasn't here, I'd lose a big part of my motivation. We just try to outdo each other, make each other proud, laugh, or show each other we're pushing it. What else am I supposed to care about? Likes on a post? Who cares. It's only fun or cool connecting it to a friend. You ever play video games alone and then play them with friends? You’re laughing 5x more. People love or hate what I make, whatever. Diego likes it, my cousin, my mom and my dad like it, that’s great. I call them every day.

Tell us a little bit about how this 424 collaboration came to be. What did the production process look like?

What's cool is it wasn't my idea for once. Guillermo hit me about putting the series to clothes. I always wanted to and tried some on my own but I’m picky. He had the experience to know-how to do it right, and that way I got to focus on presentation. We were talking for like a year but when I got back from Italy, I was like let’s set a date. We did everything in like 30 days. Got the clothes, projectors, airbrush, Michael Jackson, Marilyn, sculptures, new artwork, videos, pop-up and drop. Everything 30 days start to finish. No bullshit.

Do you have a marketing philosophy? What's the business side of your brain thinking?

They're the same brain. It's everything that I make. What would I show my friend if I saw it? You see? Everything comes back to the same thing.

The airbrushed garments have a ghostly look to them. How did you achieve that application?

I wanted the pieces to feel haunted, like there was a ghost trapped inside. I sent it to Miles [Franklin]. He can go from mockup to final product so one-to-one, with a little bit of style, like god-level, like looking at a leaf and thinking, 'I can't change anything about this.' I wanted to get him into a whole new type of application. Everything has to be new. With this one I’m bringing analog horror into luxury fashion for the first time. We created an analog horror video for the presentation, and it’s in the clothes themselves. Some people probably don't even know what analog horror is, but I'm talking to the future, we will see more of it.

Where do you want to take this?

I don't know. I’m just going to keep putting out ideas and doing what I feel. I want to continue closing the gap between idea and delivery. All it takes is a few of those to hit for everything to change.