If five years ago somebody would have told me that I would be working with my biggest inspiration, I would have laughed my head off.
As most of you know, I discovered and fell in love with resin when I moved to a tiny fishing village in Lombok at 23 years old, where I ended up working for the island's first local shapers. The guys took me under their wing and taught me everything they knew about glassing. I ended up creating all the designs on their boards, turning them into "rideable artwork." It was the resin offpours that got me obsessed with the idea of creating artwork using this medium. The way resin flows like water in slow motion and creates all these mesmerising textures, fuelled an urge to explore the idea of making paintings with it. I wanted to capture and freeze the movement of the Ocean, merging the aerial and underwater perspective. It was one hell of a ride to learn and experiment, being in a place with a serious lack of infrastructure and resources.
At the time, when the village finally got some half decent 3G signal, I discovered an Instagram account called Boardporn and through that, I found Matt Parker's brand Album Surfboards.
To me, Matt's designs are the epitome of rideable art. Combining matte and gloss finishes, asymmetrical shapes and bold colour choices, he is doing it all. Since then, it was always a dream for me to one day collaborate.
Early 2019, Matt and I started talking about his previous amazing collaborations with graphic designer David Carson and award-winning photographer Chris Burkard (and yes, I am indeed fangirling right now). We bounced some ideas back and forth, discussed the artwork and made a few mock up designs.
Using my three most popular originals; The Lady, Lucid and Infinite, the guys at Album brought our vision to life in a way that only they could. The trio consists of a 9'0" Coda model single fin longboard (sold), a 6'9" Townsend Ledge model single fin, and a 5'5" UTF twin fin. A matte resin tint finish with super high gloss polish on the artwork inlay, turned them into something that is almost too nice to ride.
Only one of each will be made, they will not be reproduced. They can be purchased through Album Surfboards website.
I can't get my head around the fact that my work is now on these boards, shaped and glassed by the guys who inspired me from the beginning. This is my journey literally coming full circle.
I am beyond stoked and thankful for this amazing opportunity and honour. And of course, to the guys at Banyu Surfboards for letting me make a mess in their shaping studio for all those years, and to everyone who entrusted me with creating artwork on their boards.
x Zee
Beautiful story again Zee! I am so happy for you and I am so proud of you❤❤❤