In the life and studio of LA-based, Trinidad-born artist Miles Regis, every action is an opportunity for creative self-expression. Prolific in fine art and fashion design, Regis freely swaps the materials and languages of each to enrich the other. His large-scale mixed media paintings on canvas and linen incorporate dimensional collage elements of denim, buttons, leather, printed matter, sequins, and patches of eclectically sourced found textiles—along with his dexterous, gestural, richly hued abstract and figurative painting techniques. Add into the mix his lifelong practices in poetry and music, and a profound engagement with ancestral history and contemporary social issues, and it soon becomes clear that Regis’ core métier is purpose and authenticity—in whatever form it manifests.
Aggressively hopeful and humanistic, Regis embraces a storytelling stance in his stylized renditions of fundamental scenes of love, loss, freedom, survival, and activism.
In the life and studio of LA-based, Trinidad-born artist Miles Regis, every action is an opportunity for creative self-expression. Prolific in fine art and fashion design, Regis freely swaps the materials and languages of each to enrich the other. His large-scale mixed media paintings on canvas and linen incorporate dimensional collage elements of denim, buttons, leather, printed matter, sequins, and patches of eclectically sourced found textiles—along with his dexterous, gestural, richly hued abstract and figurative painting techniques. Add into the mix his lifelong practices in poetry and music, and a profound engagement with ancestral history and contemporary social issues, and it soon becomes clear that Regis’ core métier is purpose and authenticity—in whatever form it manifests.
Aggressively hopeful and humanistic, Regis embraces a storytelling stance in his stylized renditions of fundamental scenes of love, loss, freedom, survival, and activism. “Everything I’m doing today is what I did as a child—drawing, painting, singing, writing poetry, experimenting with technology, obsessing over fashion…” says Miles Regis. “I’m busy creating collage sculptures now, that’s new!”
Tapping into the emotional experiences of exotic cultures around the world and presenting them in ways that are relevant to today’s modernized societies, Regis favors the simplicity of black and white structure, starkly juxtaposed with the complex dimensions of color; recurring motifs include his use of eyes, encouraging the viewer to look deeper. His paintings are often layered with vibrant hues, powerful imagery, text, abstract brush strokes, and purposeful objects—the same eye-catching iconography and palette which also appear in his original wearable art. Hand-painted by the artist, each garment highlights a delicately detailed working of both surface and narrative, in the same process that expresses the personal and collective mythologies enshrined in his art works, recalling the status-quo blasting majesty of the Black is Beautiful moment in American fashion and photography.
Increasingly, Regis uses both his canvas and his clothes to express urgent messages of hope, joy, wisdom, empathy, outrage, provocation, urgency, frustration, and forgiveness—offering a crucial voice in the cultural discourse since George Floyd, BLM, and beyond. He is a featured collaborator with Rock Against Racism as they take their activism to concert festivals across America, in a multiplatform appearance that combines live painting, activism, design merchandise, and a gallery exhibition during the festival.
In 2024, Regis was commissioned by the Architectural firm Akin Co. on a three-month project to produce concept designs for a unique, nature- inspired cabin in collaboration with the 40 Acre Conservation League. Working closely with the architectural team to ensure that the 800 square foot structure is functional but also a work of art that complements the surrounding environment. The design contributes to a space that fosters connection, creativity, and community. The camp site is located on 650 Acres of Timberlands with a 30-acre lake, Lake Putt, near Emigrant Gap in Tahoe National Forest, Northern California. The cabin also is part of a beautiful retreat but will also play a key role in promoting inclusivity in natural spaces.
Regis has also been delving into new technologies as an early adopter of the emerging realm of Virtual Reality as a fine art application. One of the main elements in constructing interdimensional visual worlds based on his art is a painstaking process building the compositional structure layer by layer—a technique ideally suited to Regis’ established language of painting. The results, which he sometimes pairs with his own original auric electronic beats, are kinetic, vibrating, seductive travels in AbEx hyperspace, and all on their own make the case for VR as a proper tool for all kinds of artists. This year, he is working in collaboration with renowned digital artist Sutu of EyeJAck, as well as enjoying an artist residency with The Lincoln Center in New York, where their collaborative efforts will be on display as a featured interactive AR art and music experience during the summer of 2025.
The experience will allow visitors to point their mobile phones at the buildings inside the Lincoln Center Plaza and see the buildings come to life with a large-scale Augmented Reality paintings and animation. The experience is a spatial painting, where the virtual brush strokes float in the air, all around you. The visitors are encouraged to walk around inside the painting, to explore it from every angle and discover the different layers of narrative.
During the summer of 2017 Regis made his first foray into the world of artisanal perfume, creating an original series of signature scents developed during a month-long art-and-fashion residency at LA’s Institute for Art and Olfaction. Harkening back to his youthful career as a performer and recording artist in Trinidad, Regis continues to practice music, and is currently engaged in an inspired full-circle moment, approaching a project in collaboration with famed Trinidadian jazz artist Etienne Charles.
Regis and his art was featured in a Ford F-150 Truck national TV commercial in January 2021, and the 15-foot painted art sculpture was created live on camera and the final reveal of his painted sculpture featured an appearance by DJ Dnice providing the sounds during the commercial.
Regis is in the permanent collection of Intel Corporation, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, California African American Museum, PAMA in Canada and Senegal's La Musee Borindar; and has appeared in association with CNN, The Ford Motor Company, The Coachella Music and Art Festival, Rock Against Racism, Million Dollar Listing, Volcom, American Rag Cie, Art For Amnesty, Campaign for Black Male Achievement, Manifest Justice, and Adobe. Regis has exhibited at Art Week Miami and The Coachella Arts And Music Festival and has been featured on CNN, Forbes Magazine, The Huffington Post, Extra TV and Ebony Magazine. Regis is represented by a handful of select galleries worldwide and calls Von Lintel Gallery in Los Angeles his home gallery.
