Lee Wilson’s Utopia
If you think about it, your life's story is told by how well you deal with the repeated concussions handed out by the world.
Reality has an exceptional knack for picking up, getting a proper grip, and whipping a remarkable amount of shit right at you, forever. Things are always going well until they very suddenly are not. It sort of dampens the mood.
The company you work for will always go through layoffs the second your freelance checks also stop coming through. The litreage on your fibreglass will always be perfect until you start bogging your rail on every turn. The park you walk through will always be lovely despite the ominous van (“the aggy van,” you endearingly call it) that’s forever parked between where the grass ends and the street starts, right in front of the pub you really like, until a man with a too-large coat, a loose handful of single cigarettes, and a wild stare stumbles out of the decrepit Econline before powerwalking right toward you. These things happen, and there’s not much you can do about it. You can retaliate by running scared and listening to the sort of music that makes your friends send you screenshots from their Friend Activity tab on Spotify that’s just your name followed by “The Smiths” with a text saying: we all good, bro? Or, you can start bartending, do cardio while cutting carbs, or just find the humour in it all, that sort of thing. In short, the good comes around less often than the bad, and you can’t just sit around expecting that to change.
And this is how we start talking about Lee Wilson. Figuratively (or literally, Instagram does exist), look toward Lee. From a casual perspective, things seem to be going pretty well for the Balinese free surfing superstar. He’s still stacking clips, including a standout appearance in the latest, highly-enjoyable Ballet surf flick, and seems to be enjoying his charmed position at the pointy end of the cool zone of surfing. He’s also been picking up a brush and pencil and working on his art, one of his other longtime creative companions. In fact, he’s recently been showcasing his latest exhibition, ‘Utopia,’ on the walls of Deus’Temple of Enthusiasm in Canggu, Bali. It’s a spectacular bit of colour on canvas, which was the initial reason we decided to give him a call here in the first place. After some conversation, however, Lee revealed that there’s more to ‘Utopia’ than some small departure from his past painting style.
Now, surfing’s a fickle mistress that you can't often bank on either for finance or for continuous support. That’s no secret to Lee. But, when sponsors told Lee the checks would stop coming through, and that post-COVID restructuring is never actually going to happen, things looked quite dire. Instead of having a big, theatric panic about it or worse, though, Lee turned to something that has never left his side: art. Now, Lee’s very aware that it isn’t exactly a field tailored for fiscal legends. But that doesn't bother him. Lee will be the first to tell you that he reflects on his reality through his art because it reminds him to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of the world around him. Now, ‘Utopia’s’ all about fretting less about the unrealistic expectations of reality. In fact, it’s a reminder of the splendour and beauty in everyday life that’s out there if you just push through. We’ll let him take it from here, though:
Lee! Sounds like you just got of the water, what's up?
Funny enough, I just started surfing again and just had my second surf in like a month. And the waves were really fun! The sun is shining but yeah, it's... Bali's crowded. So that's what I did notice in the surf (laughs).
I mean, the crowds in Bali have particularly been in the news lately. It's definitely been something people have been talking about.
Some crazy things go down in the water and it's because it's so crowded, I guess. People get aggressive and it's like foreigners versus foreigners these days.
And there are no waves for locals and it's just a sticky situation overall. It's a lot, it seems.
It definitely makes surfing less attractive and appealing to me.
Any reason why you’ve been taking a bit of a break from surfing? Is it because of work and painting? Or is it just because of life?
Yeah, so I got dropped by my sponsor. I was riding for this health food company. I got in a bit of trouble and they fired me (laughs).
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
It’s okay. (Laughs). It's not meant to be. I don't regret it one bit, man. Yeah, I lost my job and that sucks. But, I have some very, very fun and beautiful memories from that trip. Money can be made and memories, well, memories like that you can only live those, you know?
That’s very true. And you're very talented on a board, so I’m sure something will work out. That’s just the peaks and pits of life!
You gotta take the good with the bad or else that just makes you an absolute cunt.
That's how you become one of those psycho people out in the water.
There's always someone worse off than you. That's for sure.
That's a very wise way to look at it. So, tell me a bit about ‘Utopia’, how did it all come about?
So, before Covid, I was riding for Brixton and literally before the Covid year started I had moved back to Bali and I planned to live and have my life here. I thought I was going to keep going with Brixton, and then they just let me go. They gave me three months' notice. And I was like, ah, here we go. I've been through this before, I just need to expect the winter coming up. The theoretical winter. Not weather, but the winter as in a drought in finance.
So, I lost my job and then Covid hit straight after and no one knew what it was. And then my ex broke up with me. It all hit me at once, man. It was dark times, you know? Like, it was all very super weird and dark.
But I kept surfing. I kept surfing and I kept painting. And I kept studying too and then I met this girl and we started, well, she's a model and she had contacts and some influence and she would take me on some trips with her. And she took me to Lance's Right, and that's where it all started.
I was sitting there with no money, but I still happened to wake up right directly in front of the perfect, reeling right with my girlfriend and it was just the most perfect… It was like perfection, you know what I mean? Despite how low we can be and feel, there are always those moments you're paying attention. Perfection is always there, but we always miss it because we always have so much on our minds.
It’s a feeling of appreciation, you know? It's out there. You have to take the good with the bad and not miss those moments. There are those nice moments and we don't realise it because we're having such a crap day.
Funny, there's one painting in particular that I really, really enjoy. It's the one of a couple looking at their nails at the poolside. And, at least in my interpretation, they almost look bored as a paradise unfolds around them. It's like you said, there's beauty in the world around us, you just have to pay attention to it. You may feel like a moment’s mundane, but really you just have to open your eyes a bit more.
Yeah, exactly! You see a lot going on in the world and it's, like, man, you have your feet, you have your hands, and you can make things. You can make money. No one's going to come and bust your door down and tear your family apart. There’re so many things that are going on that we don't have to deal with and these paintings are a friendly reminder that magic happens.
There are so many angry people out there, you wouldn't believe it. There’re so many angry people in the surf and there's really one way to deal with it. And it's not to be angry too. You just have to observe without judgment and be, like, ‘Man, they don't get the message. They don’t get the point.’ You know, like, poor guy.
It reminds me a bit of the formal interpretation of karma a bit. There's your point of view, there's their point of view, and then there's reality. So, have all these paintings for ‘Utopia’ been an ongoing project basically since mid-Covid?
Well, I started sketching and then I was drawing in my journals because I just thought, man, what better way to do it than actually sketch what I'm actually looking at, even though it looks kind of silly. Sketching is hard like real life is hard. But, I wanted to take these moments from my book and blow them up on a painting. So, the sketches happen first, and I had the diary and journal, and I was, like, ah, I could make a body of work with this. That can all tie in. It'd use the same colour code and it’d be a family of paintings that are all influenced by basically this same ideal.
And the staring at the nails one? That's funny, that's probably my favourite one too because that was simply just me stopping for a tea and I noticed this couple at this little hostel pool, and the pool was tiny. But there was a little bit of sunshine left, and during that time it was raining a lot, so sunshine was rare if you could get it, and they were just sitting there and their skin was this pinkish glow in the sun and it caught my eye. I was, like, man, that's so beautiful. Like, those two sitting there in the sun was a moment to appreciate, you know what I mean? That's such a beautiful scene. They looked so peaceful and happy and I'm glad I caught that.
So it seems like a lot of those moments you're painting come from observing beauty while just going about your life. Are you seeing those moments and internalising them and then drawing or painting off that conceptualisation later? Or are you literally going about with a sketchbook with the intention of stumbling upon something?
With the couple by the pool, I noticed them and they were so far away from me, but I still noticed it. And I have an iPhone 7 and, well, basically I couldn't take a photo of them because that's just sus (laughs). So I took a selfie of myself and I lined them up in the background of my selfie and then I got to keep that moment because it was sunset and I had to capture the light exactly where it was because that's when it looked special. And then I had this tiny file that I got to look at for that one in particular, and that's why that one's style is actually a little different.
That's a funny tactic, I like that.
It's hard. It's really hard, man. It's really hard because to draw something or someone, well, they have to stay still for a little bit. For a while actually (laughs). And time is money these days. So, unless the girl is really, really cool that she wants you to paint her, she ain't going to wait there for you to do it.
So, I’ve been looking at some of your art from beforehand, more of your portrait-style stuff, was that less freestyle then?
It depends on which portrait. If it's someone like Frida or Action, like someone famous that I painted, it's definitely a picture of them that I found because obviously I don't know them (laughs). But I believe, from my experience, that you can look at people, and what comes out through your hand in the brush is you. That's you coming out. That's all you.
And I've noticed from those earlier paintings that there is, I wouldn't call it progression, but rather a change in style. Did that happen conscientiously or was that something that came about naturally? Because before a lot of your work followed that more Picasso-y style, especially the portraits. But now, especially with ‘Utopia’, it's kind of a little bit Hiroshi Nagai and Henri Rousseau go on an island vacation together and Hockey’s invite is on the way in the mail.
I love all those guys (laughs). But I'm going to answer you honestly because in order to progress I believe we need to be honest with everyone and ourselves. I changed my style for two reasons. One is because of study. It's easy to throw around paint and be abstract. All my favourite abstract painters studied beforehand and they know how to do the practical and they know how to paint something as it is if they wanted to. I wanted to know that I had the ability to paint what I see because that's really important to me. That's really, really important to me. It reminds me that I actually do have, and I do possess, a practical side, and it's not just freestyling, you know?
And the second reason is that I just lost my job and I need to sell more. I have two kids and this is what I want to do. I know I seem like a crazy person to my family (laughs) because I'm irresponsible and I'm painting and I’m not making any money like you need to think about. But I just need that trust for now because this will turn around. I do believe that with great time and study, it's inevitable that it will turn around. I believe I do have the tools for it. So, the second reason is I had to sell because if I'm not selling, I'm not paying my bills. So I had to study what sells too and go around people's houses and check what they buy, you know? A lot of buildings are going up here and people want to fill their walls with paintings, but they might not wanna some abstract face. That might be too heavy for their house. So, ‘Utopia’ was honestly, man, it was more of an adjustment to the art world. And that's not heroic at all. I know that's not heroic and it's not what the rogue, crazy artist would do. It would go against their ideals. But for me… I have to think about my survival in the meantime too, you know?
Things are really tricky, I'm not going to lie. People honestly look at me like I'm crazy, like, you really think you're going to be an artist? But the people that win are the ones who keep going on their own, even though the whole world's doubting them. You have to keep going.
I mean if it were easy, everyone would do it. And that's funny that you mentioned that you keep going, that’s something I’ve always seen about you. You always keep going with everything, whether it’s your surfing or your art. You always push through with everything.
We must be this way. We have one life, right? And the way I think is… when I'm sitting on a cloud looking down one day and I know I can't get down there, I want to be happy with what I tried. I don't want to be up there kicking myself saying, ‘I should have tried.’
Yeah, you can’t just live your life sitting around waiting for something to happen. That’s not how things work (laughs).
Exactly. And you know what I did the year before Covid happened? On that last New Year's, I don't even know what year it was now (laughs) but I told my mom on that New Year's that this was the last drink that I was ever going to have. And she's like, why? And I said, ‘I just want to figure something out, Mom. I'm making a sacrifice.’ She's like, ‘Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll see, we'll see’ (laughs). And I haven't drank since! I read somewhere that you need to make sacrifices to get ahead in life. And that's true. I really think that's true. I sacrificed one thing, and it's alcohol.
And you just walked away from it that day? On the spot and done?
Well, I was sort of wasted with my mom that night (laughs). I was with her all night and I couldn't think of a better person to have my last drink with. But I need to be a dad. I have two girls, one's fourteen, and the other’s eight. I just can't be spending any more time in pubs sitting around talking with boys anymore, you know?
There are important things to get to.
I figured this isn't working for me, like I've done it long enough, and it's not working for me. So, let's try something else, you know?
And it’ll help you carve out more time for art and surfing too I’m sure.
Yeah, one hundred per cent. I'm actually working on a video part!
Oh, is the illustrious Royal Beach Bum channel about to get a little revamp? Your channel is a serious quality-over-quantity operation. I’ve always loved your choice of music, it’s very non-aligned with most edits before and today, and in the best way possible. You edit everything on there too, right?
Bro, I direct everything. And with the music, you know what I figured there? Like, you don't even have to be super good at what you do necessarily. You just need to do it chill with a nice style. But the music is important. Whatever music you put to it, it's almost like the colour you're about to put on the canvas. All it takes is some good music and it's going make your surfing look that much better.
True, and on the flip side even the best parts can be ruined by the worst music.
It can ruin the best skater in the world too! I actually watch more skate parts than surf. But, yeah, if you got some jockey chump editing your stuff, beware man. Like, beware. Especially in surfing, where you have probably the jockiest, dorkiest people. Skating, well? They've got it under control.
Well, I know I can’t wait to see whatever comes your way next. Thanks, Lee! This has been a very, very lovely conversation.
Thanks!