“Jamie Thomas contacted me through a friend of his who had bought a few cardboard paintings off me at Rin Tanaka’s Inspiration LA 2015 show. Jamie saw those paintings and called me to see if I’d be interested in painting some Vietnam floral and landscapes as inspiration for his Roark capsule collection. At first I didn’t know it was Jamie Thomas the skater but I was so stoked after finding out it was as I’ve always dug Zero Skateboards and his personal style. We collaborated through pictures off my phone of the art until he liked them and I was stoked too.” Bent said.
“Jamie wanted to make a flowery, airy and lightweight shirt because of the hot & humid climate in Vietnam. So I created a print based on the country’s national flower, the lotus for his woven. A second design I did is the Ha Long Bay Woven print that is part of the Roark Spring Collection as well.” – Ha Long Bay is iconic at every angle. Its floating fish farms and the humble families that live on them are enchanting. This short sleeve woven ties them together with the ever-present conical paddy hat.
Brian Bent – From Stance’s Punks and Poets
Bent’s style is a blending of figurative painting with bold geometric constructivist imagery and is reminiscent of the linear abstract textile designs of 50s designers and artists such as Lucienne Day. He is a master of re-purposing material with an inadvertent tendency toward recycling. His resourceful eye imagines new life from that of a discard, while his gifted ability manifests the inspiration to its completion in an instant. Whether it is in surfing, music, writing, painting, design, fashion, sculpting, car building, or whatever else sets his soul afire, the result brings one into the joyful world which emanates through all he touches.
