If you’ve ever spotted a faceless surfer god riding a cosmic wave on a t-shirt, poster, or someone’s kitchen wall near the coast, chances are it was Easty Beasty’s work. Equal parts sunburnt, strange, and a little sacred, her illustrations are surf culture seen through a psychedelic lens, gritty sea spirits, cowgirl mermaids, and dreamscapes that look like they’ve washed ashore straight from another dimension. Her work doesn’t just nod to surf culture, it winks at it, teases it, and then lovingly pulls it apart.
Based in Byron Bay, Easty (real name none of your business) is part artist, part surfer, and part soup enthusiast. She’s also one of the most distinctive creative voices in Australia’s surf-skate scene, which is saying something in a culture built on big energy and even bigger personalities. Her style is raw and fluid, like it’s been rinsed in saltwater and left to dry on a clothesline next to a sandy towel.
Originally from Ipswich, an old coal mining town near Brisbane, Easty didn’t grow up near the sea. Her relationship with the ocean began later, sparked by a move to Sydney, a painful breakup, and the kind of heartbreak that sends you searching for something bigger than yourself. She found it in the surf.
“I started swimming every morning, just being alone with the water,” she says. “It was therapy.”
That’s when the Easty style was born, dreamy, cheeky, full of celestial chaos and salt-soaked symbolism. Her illustrations began to take on lives of their own, and people noticed. Soon her art was being picked up by brands like Afends, Rusty, and Impala Skate. She collaborated with surf-punk duo Hockey Dad. The crossovers, fashion, music, skate, and art made sense. They felt like home.
But that wasn’t always the case.
“I grew into it,” she admits. “I’ve always had hectic imposter syndrome. But I love fashion, and I love how all these worlds overlap. I’ve always felt like a bit of a loser… Maybe this is just my second coming in my 20s.”