Archive Note
Born and raised in the Pico-Union District of Los Angeles, Big Sleeps built his lettering out of the neighborhood's writing tradition, coming up as a member of the LA graffiti crew K2S (Kill 2 Succeed), co-founded by the writer Jose "Prime" Reza, before bringing the script into tattooing and fine art. His work turns words and phrases into dense, ornamented compositions that read as a fluent script to those inside the tradition, applied across tattooing, mural and canvas painting, and design. His lettering guide Letters to Live By, published by Belzel Books after being shown at the Ink-N-Iron convention, became one of the standard references for Los Angeles-style lettering in the trade, and he collaborated with Prime on the book Neighborhood Offerings, which was acquired by the Getty Research Institute. He runs Big Sleeps Studio in Los Angeles and the Big Sleeps Ink line, and exhibits paintings in galleries.
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