RETNA and El Mac — Miles MacGregor — have maintained a collaborative practice across Los Angeles for many years. Their format is consistent: MacGregor produces photorealistic portraits that appear to breathe on the wall, while RETNA surrounds them with his calligraphic script. The partnership is documented in the photograph showing a large blue rectangle on stage with figures reaching up — the energy their joint work generates in public space.The collaboration best known to the public is "Of Our Youth" in Skid Row. An elderly woman's face, rendered in El Mac's concentric line technique, is framed by RETNA's calligraphy weaving around her like thoughts, like prayers. The location — Skid Row — is deliberate: the subjects of the portraits are not models but community members. El Mac gives the work a face; RETNA gives it a voice. Together they have created a visual history of Los Angeles that could not exist without both of their contributions. The partnership represents what genuine collaboration looks like: two distinct visual languages meeting in service of a shared subject.
