Van Arno was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Otis Parsons School of  Design in Los Angeles, where he studied under Carol Caroompas and Lita Albquerque and supported himself working late nights as a bouncer in nightclubs and adult video arcades. As a young illustrator in mid 80s LA his work appeared on album covers, nightclub posters, and he developed concept designs for amusement park attractions.  By the late eighties, he began producing large cut-out paintings blending cartoon imagery with portraits of cultural and historical icons.  These early cut-outs pairing Keith Richards and John the Baptist, John F. Kennedy and Hermann Goering, and others were sold privately to collectors.  He was responsible for a guerrilla installation of his large "Angel" cut-out mounted over Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park, (Christmas 1992).

In the early 90s he became fascinated with the calendar of the ancient Maya, and traveled to Yucatan to see the ruins at Chichen Itza, Coba and Tulum.  At the same time, he began to create ambitious figurative works featuring religious and folk heroes from Christian, Mayan and American history (St. Francis, John Brown, Nat Turner, Nellie Bly) in cell vinyl on masonite. This work was shown extensively around town and in several other cities, and prominently featured his series of Olive Oyl paintings, inspired by his life-long fascination with the unattractive sexpot.  A feature in JUXTAPOZ documented his work to date in January, 1999. In the spring of 2000, his work was included in a group museum show at the Hollywood Art and Culture center in Florida.