My name is Justo Bello and I go by Hito as my artist name, which means “Person” or “Human Being” in Japanese. I am an artist, collector and knowledge seeker who’s versed in many facets of life. I am currently on a journey to live life in the way I always aspired it to be, after experiencing many things along the years, not knowing in what direction I wanted to go in life and then learning many lessons that have taught me to rely on myself and what I am capable of.
I have always loved art and being creative. Since young I wanted to make my own art and through my younger years and all the way till high school I was always drawing and was in a art class where I eventually got a scholarship to Cooper Union in NYC, but unfortunately I never went anywhere with it, due to lack of motivation and distractions in those years as a teen.
Before undertaking this current journey as an artist, I used to work in retail for a good 8 years of my life. In that time I tried to also go to Mercy College for art, learned many skills which gave me a great eye for art but only did 2 semesters. I was let go from my last retail job and was unemployed for 7 months, after I entered into hospitality doing many different positions and working in several buildings for 10 years (currently still working in the field), in which I had time to learn about myself, interacted with high profile clientele and eventually went into school where I learned many leadership skills, hands-on skills like electrical, carpentry and plumbing and HVAC.
I was well on my way to become a resident manager until I met an artists named Shanelle Julia Rosita and through our friendship, my fire for art returned after experiencing Art Basel on her advise and I shifted everything to try and become the artist I always wanted to be.
Since the end of 2024 until now I have been working to create a portfolio of art showcasing my skills in photography, digital art, my passion for storytelling and incorporating technology to express myself even further, by using ai to create art pieces as well. During that time, I ended up becoming a collector of art and have supported many artists. I have been interviewed several times and have been a curator to events and contests.
I have visions and plans of the future person I want to be with art and where I want to take it, and so far my efforts have delivered many works, has gotten my art to be on a billboard in NYC with One Love Art Dao, during NFTNYC 2025 and has helped me build many relationships with artists, other collectors and people in the art field that share the same passion.
I don’t know if it’ll all lead to where I dream to be, but I am in full confidence of myself that I am using all that I have learned, while still making sure I continue to learn new skills to help me achieve those deeper dreams into this future where I can live in art.
Photo credited to: Gabe @sigueinventando on 𝕏
