Artist Brian Bent cuts a striking figure in and out of the water. He’s unapologetically as Californian as they come—known for pulling up to the parking lot in a thirties hot rod, as he does on the day of our shoot, with an era-appropriate wooden “kookbox” surfboard sticking out of the back. His look is at once retro-inspired yet completely original—a reflection of his devotion to his art.

Bent and his artwork are informed by a lifetime in California, the seamlessly coalescing influences of skating, surfing, punk rock, classic car culture, and everything in between. There’s an innate style that transcends these subcultures, and it's one that Brian seems to have been born into.

BM: I read you got super into welding and did all these elaborate sculptures for Becker Surf Shops.

BB: I started redoing the women’s clothing displays, and I realized I could re-do the whole rack system. I randomly caught this TV show about Abstract Expressionism and [sculptor] David Smith. I thought, ‘That’s the ultimate’ because it was really simple to me. I was also reading about Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation at the time, so it kind of put it all together. Becker gave me the freedom to do it.

BM: I love the idea of you showing up to the beach in a hot rod from the 30s with a surfboard from the same era. Tell me more about that.

BB: One day I’m down at San Onofre and I do a donut in my hot rod in the lot and almost hit [pro surfer] JJ Wessels’ truck. He had a kookbox [Ed’s note: an early surfboard design from the 30s] in the truck. That’s where it kind of started for me. When you ride a kookbox it's like you're watching this whole big wave unfold in front of you. When I first started riding kookboxes, it was crazy. People didn’t know what to think at first.

BM: How does driving a hot rod compare to surfing a kookbox?

BB: They’re fast, they rumble along, and they're edgy. They're challenging. You’ve got to be spot on and aware—they can hurt you. It's scary, but it can also be the ultimate. The same goes for surfing kookboxes.