BENTO

I write BENTO & I’m based out of Southern California. I first fell in love with graffiti as a child. My mother would take us to downtown LA and back then the freeways were smashed with graffiti. We would often go into the city to the Santee Alleys for clothing and Mexican party supplies.

When I was about 15, many of my peers in my neighborhood were writing. My younger brother dragged me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to catch tags with him. I never really took graffiti seriously at this age & went through several names before I found myself. It was always just for funsies but because my brother had beef, I definitely understood the implications that came along with writing.

A lot of graffiti writers that inspired me then still inspire me now. Miss 17 has always been a major inspiration for me and I highly regard the simplicity of her throw-up and how it has always remained the same. Bombing is my favorite aspect of graffiti, so naturally, I looked up to her and writers like Nekst, Sacer, and Tie as a youngin…rest in peace. Style-wise, ORFN was a major influence for me to start writing as well.

I’m extremely lucky and have the utmost gratitude to be in a relationship where my partner loves graffiti as much as I do, and has encouraged me to join him. I had dated other writers before him but they never wanted to include me in their escapades. Sometimes you meet someone and they want to share everything with you. Touch has always been the biggest influence in my life to actually put my work out into the world.

Style wise, I feel I am in a transitional period where I’m experimenting with things I haven’t done before or maybe was too scared to try, like challenging myself with incorporating characters into my pieces. With my documentation especially, I have been attempting to create a positive space for women and young girls that veers away from the often over-sexualized representations we have. It’s important for me to showcase this to my daughter. Graffiti is and has always been for the kids.