Retna, the 31-year-old artist from Los Angeles. Retna, whose real name is Marquis Lewis, comes from a graffiti background. Over the past few years Retna has been known less for his graffiti pieces than a unique written language derived from various ancient scripts. IT DRAWS ON EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS, AND MAYAN GLYPHS, AS WELL AS MEXICAN AND PRE-COLUMBIAN HERITAGE.