Universe

Rello is a contemporary artist and modern day rubber hose illustrator based in Chicago. His concentrations are pop art and objects. As a self taught artist Rello has been making art for over a decade.

Lost Paradise aka Paradise Design House is the vehicle that houses Rello’s artistic projects and exhibits. A lost paradise is an undiscovered place of supreme happiness. Art is my lost paradise.

P.I.A.B. is really a series of questions disguised as a statement. If a world famous and iconic cartoon character was presented as black, would you love black people more? Would you protect us? Would you uplift us? Would you finally listen to us? When will the world love black people as much as they love black culture?

Ozzy is both a symbol and a test subject. He’s a symbol of “what if” and because of that his existence and purpose has become a study of that same “what if” question. The names Ozzy & Ruby were inspired by the love and legacy of Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee. Black love is such a powerful weapon.

Everything starts with a woman. If Ozzy is our test subject then Ruby is our spark that started the idea. Before I even started on the Ozzy character, I created Ruby first. Because of how powerful her image was, it led me to go deeper down the rabbit hole of black representation.

This is inspired by my love of Murakami and more importantly my love for the complexity of a flower. The flower is possibly one of the most intriguing objects we encounter in our daily lives. From a symbolic standpoint flowers tend to represent love and adoration. From a scientific standpoint flowers are the only living creature that operate with both male and female parts and the world doesn’t hate them for it.