Zee van Gils

I was born in 1990 in the Netherlands, but my artistic journey truly began years later when I found myself working alongside the first surfboard shapers of a small fishing village in Lombok, Indonesia. At 23, after studying, travelling and working, I left home to find a different way of life and reconnect with my creative side. That decision led me from Australia to Indonesia, where everything suddenly fell into place. I fell in love with surfing, found my soulmate and a community that welcomed me, and—without planning to—ended up calling Lombok home for three years.

I lived in a tiny jungle shack, far from the comforts of clean running water and reliable internet, yet it became the first place where I felt completely at home with myself. I worked as a surf photographer, a café manager, and created surfboard art in the local shaping bay. The shapers encouraged me to experiment freely, and it was during the board-glassing process that I discovered my obsession with resin. I quickly drew the connection between the patterns, colours and movements in the resin and my natural surroundings on the island. This realisation sparked a deep urge to translate nature’s textures and rhythms into abstract forms. With limited infrastructure and resources, I quickly learned that this material demanded patience, persistence and an unexpected appreciation for imperfection.

My work is an ode to nature’s ever-changing balance and its ability to heal both body and mind. Resin allows me to give form to fluidity; holding chaos, stillness and elemental contrasts in suspended motion. Layering textures and pigments invites the observer to come closer and appreciate the details, to notice how each piece shifts in different light and from different angles. My art is a reminder of what nature offers us: solace, grounding, peace and a place to return to ourselves.

I draw inspiration from aerial landscape perspectives, underwater views, and the memories I carry from my travels, as well as from my constant muse: Cornwall. My colour palettes come from the sea, the sky and the earth; my compositions from the patterns nature reveals only when you slow down enough to see them.

In 2018, I held my first exhibition in Perth, Australia. Later that year, unforeseen circumstances led my partner and me to relocate. Within weeks, we found ourselves starting anew in Cornwall, UK, where we’ve since put down roots and committed to a life by the ocean and my work as a full-time artist.

My art has since travelled far beyond my studio—finding homes in twenty-five countries and appearing on Album Surfboards, XO COCO Surfboards and Volkswagen. Through each piece I create, I continue to tell a story of defiance, resilience and my ongoing journey to carve my own fluid path, shaped by the natural world that inspires me.