OZZY WRIGHT is an artist, filmmaker, musician, and professional surfer. Finding inspiration in graffiti, pop art, psychedelia, and the punk scene, Ozzy has created an inimitable blend of eco-political activism and good vibrations, topped off with Barbie dolls and a dose of an athlete’s stamina. Paintings, collages, drawings, shirts, towels, and surfboards are only a few of the pieces one finds in his Byron Bay studio.
ozzywrong.com
@ozzywrong
TEXT BY QUEENIE CHAN & RAFAEL WAACK
TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT YOU AND WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW…
I’m Ozzy Wright. I have grown up surfing, doing art, managed to have made a living out of it so far. We’re in my house/studio in Northern New South Wales, where I like to sew on my sewing machine. When I was younger, I used to make collages out of coloured paper. Then, last year, I saw a sewing machine on special for $100, and I got into that. I’ve not looked back — it dumbs down your lines. Next, I’m hoping to go to the States this year, make a surf movie. I need to put that together.
HOW OFTEN DO TRAVEL AND HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO SET UP A HOME BASE IN BYRON?
I stopped traveling so much. For the last 20 years I travelled a lot, so I’m trying to slow down now, stay local a bit more. But I still have to go to Indonesia at least a month every year — just perfect waves, it’s my favourite place to surf. If I get my fix of all these waves that I need to surf, then I’m just totally happy — I surf up here everyday too, and it’s fun, but there’s something about the waves in Indonesia and the whole place…
DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE AN ARTIST?
Yes, actually; since I was tiny, I always loved drawing and I never stopped. Every birthday, my parents got me art materials, and a lot of my family members were artists. My auntie and uncles were painters; it’s sort of a family thing. They did what they loved and were able to survive, and worked damn hard, too. I had a couple of regular jobs after leaving school when I was young, but I knew I wasn’t going to last. Half an hour into the day, I knew it was not for me.
YOU’VE JUST MOVED INTO A NEW STUDIO. HOW DID YOU FIND THIS PLACE — OR DID IT FIND YOU?
My partner Miley is obsessed with real estate and couldn’t stop looking on the internet; we were trying to sell our house in Sydney, and she just found it! We were lucky, because there was only one other bidder — if it had drawn the attention of rich Sydney-siders, it would have been out of my league. I always wanted to get something to stop having to look and just get on with it. You’ve got to dive in or you can umm and ahh forever.
WHAT IS THE FAVOURITE TIME OF DAY TO BE IN THE STUDIO?
Sunsets are amazing. At the moment, it goes over the bush out there — it’s just beautiful.
Where They’ is a visual documentation of the creative environments of artist & people, that meet during my travels, of homes and studios.
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