Interview with Artist: Madeline O'Donoghue

We interviewed artist and surfer, Madeline O'Donoghue, from New Zealand. She has a distinct illustrative art style that highlights the feelings of surf culture and often includes women surfers and text in her work. Check out her website here for more of her work.

What is an obstacle you’ve had to overcome as a woman-surfer-artist, and how did you overcome it? 

To be honest, I was pretty put-off and intimidated when I was first learning to surf - it’s very hard when you’re literally surrounded by a sea of guys who can surf pretty well and catch every wave. There’s really not much room to consistently get an ok wave and to actually just have a go without getting in someone’s way, falling off or just generally looking like a jerk. But you know, having other people to go out with and finding a less busy spot in the water (like the bottom of The Pass rather than the top) were pretty key elements in the whole “learning to surf obstacle”. 

But aside from that, one of the biggest obstacles I face personally is that I only started to learn to surf when I was 29, so I haven’t been surfing for very long and I’m still very kooky. I often feel that because I make “surf related” art, people assume I can surf really well. They think I grew up in rural New Zealand and have been surfing all my life, which is just not the case. I guess with this, I feel the pressure of having to surf a lot better than I can in order for my work to be valid. I am quick to tell people I can’t surf well when it comes to talking about my drawings which is pretty odd, but definitely something I do. On a personal level, I don’t know if I’ve managed to overcome it yet as it still plays on my mind, but in the end I just simply enjoy surfing and feel like that’s validation enough for now. 

It also helps that my work has really been embraced by other female surfers. My experience thus far has been very inclusive from women in the surf industry with lots of positivity and good vibes being chucked around to one another regardless of what level you’re surfing at, how long you’ve been surfing or how you look in the water and that in of itself is a pretty special thing. Women supporting each other rather than pulling each other down is a powerful tool.

…but in the end, I just simply enjoy surfing and feel like that’s validation enough for now. 

How does your work convey the freedom of surfing? What does freedom in surf culture mean to you?

I didn’t intially consider conveying the freedom of surfing in my drawings, but I started surfing at around the same time that I started drawing again. So, iit definitely found its way into my work and sort of stuck. 

I think both surfing and drawing are the epitome of freedom. They are both places where you are able to experience a high level of fluidity and creativeness, but spaces which also allow for mistakes and mess ups (which we all know are the biggest teachers in the end). Both allow you to be in a constant state of learning while forcing you to relinquish some control and push you to focus on the present process rather than any final ending and for me, this is pretty much as free as it gets. 

When I moved to California, I started camping, surfing, camping, and road tripping up and down the coast. This really different lifestyle shifted my perspective immensely in terms of how I wish to experience life. Being on the road and living a lifestyle where travel takes precedence is similar to surfing and drawing in a way - the same focus on the process of life unfolding, seeing things in motion, noticing and observing rather than just waiting for finality in static mode. To actually take part in the world and in life, you have to be able to put yourself in moments of experience. Travel, nature, surfing, drawing, and art are all things that force experience to take place and therefore lend themselves to freedom pretty nicely.

There are so many different spaces and means for people to be creative with how they tell their stories now. I envision creativity in surf culture to continue growing this way as we celebrate all the differences and not just a single narrative. 

How do you envision surf culture becoming more creative? 

I actually think surf culture has always been a very creative industry with some of the most creative minds at the helm since the beginning. Surf culture has produced amazing creative work: photography, art, film, design and publications that tap into the sense of freedom and play that only surfing lends itself to. 

However, mainstream media has played a big part in skewing our perception of surfing as a sport and also gave a highly sexualised narrative to women in surfing, which removed some of the diversity. But, with social media channels and the increase of women in surfing, I think we are starting to see some variations in the narrative of women in surfing now. As women share their personal experiences of surfing from their unique perspectives, we are seeing a more diverse depiction of females in surfing and a variety of narratives are rising to the surface.

There are so many different spaces and means for people to be creative with how they tell their stories now. I envision creativity in surf culture to continue growing this way as we celebrate all the differences and not just a single narrative. 

Where do you get your inspirations for the text you include with your art? Do you have a writing process or anything that helps you decide on what to include with the art? 

Music. Mainly music. I am a little bit of a nut for listening to music and lyrics and I like to sing. I’ll be drawing and I’ll hear one word or a combination of words and they sort of write themselves in. Sometimes I think of words or sentences when I’m not drawing and I’ll usually write these down on a scrap of paper or make a mental note of a single word. I like words a lot and sometimes they hold a stronger image for me than any actual image could. I try not to overthink what I include in terms of words - sometimes an image will lend itself to words and sometimes the words speak for themselves. 

I like words a lot and sometimes they hold a stronger image for me than any actual image could.

How do you motivate yourself to make creative work when you don’t feel like it or how do you motivate yourself to surf when you don’t feel like it?

Well that’s sort of funny because I feel like they are so deeply tied to each other: surfing and creative work. I find it a lot harder to make creative work if I am not surfing (or at least being in nature in some way). 

For the past few months, I haven’t been able to surf so I’ve done a lot of hikes in nature and many river swims. I like seeing new things and having a lot of visual stimulation, and I really hate boredom so I’ll jump at any opportunity to do a road-trip or go stay in a cabin somewhere. I also always have music on and will usually knock out some quick drawings for myself before I start working on any projects. 

In terms of surfing, I feel like having another person to go out with helps with motivation and keeping the excitement at a high level. While living in Byron and Los Angeles, I was lucky to always have someone to go for a surf with and even if we weren’t near each other in the water, it was a somewhat shared experience. Here in New Zealand, I don’t know many people to surf with so I’ll need to find the motivation to go out on my own (and in colder water) so hopefully I’ll be able to find some contentment in it being a more solo experience. This isn’t a bad thing, but will take a new level of motivation on my part, which I’m yet to figure out what it looks like (I’ll let you know).