Heaps Good South Aussies | Surfie artist Henry Jock Walker creates unique art with neoprene wetsuits

A surf-loving South Australian artist gaining traction around the globe for his use of lived-in neoprene to create artwork explains the attraction – and why ‘wetsuit pee’ just adds nostalgia to it.

He’s the rising wave-riding South Aussie artist with a gentle quirk factor as big as the ocean, winning fans across the globe for his colourful, framed creations crafted out of used wetsuits.

The beach might seem an unlikely work space for the son of a Mallee shearer-turned-publican but it is where Henry Jock Walker feels most at home – and most inspired.

In fact, he’s even been known to take a blank canvas and tube of paint on the board with him while surfing, to catch his creativity in the moment.

Or to set up his studio practice on the street or “at the beach or the surf break”.

Henry Jock Walker is making a name for himself through his wetsuit ‘paintings’. Picture: Kelly Barnes

But then there isn’t much that is conventional about this 39-year-old former swimming, surfing and snorkelling instructor, including his name.

“It’s a weird family tradition … my first name is Henry but it’s a family tradition to be called by your second name,” he laughs.

“I call myself Jock but people get surprised when they find out my real name is Henry.”

He says his love of the ocean and “excitement for surfing” was sparked as a lad while still living in Keith, about 225km southeast of Adelaide, when he visited Kangaroo Island with family friends and was introduced to riding waves on a board.

Henry Jock Walker combines his two loves – surfing and art – at the same time, Picture: Instagram

Walker, who holds a UniSA Bachelor of Visual Arts and an Honours from Melbourne’s Victorian College of Art (VCA), is invariably described as a contemporary artist, “practitioner of live ephemeral performance” and interdisciplinary artist.

For him art and surfing are intrinsically linked.

“I have been both making art and surfing for a long time, it is a kind of dual passion … (which) provides me with really healthy ingredients for thinking about what I can make and how to make it,” he says.

He also views engagement, collaboration and “taking the art to the people” as important as the art he creates.

“Contemporary art can sometimes be a bit scary or something for the public, so I tryto break those barriers down and make projects that are inviting and do a lot of art-making in public – I really like the directness of that,” he says.

As a young artist he headed on a “lap of Australia” forging connections along the way with whom he continues to collaborate with, including Darwin long-grasser “Trevor the Rubbish Warrior” and to famed abstract artist Gregory Hodge, who is now based in Paris.

Walker arranging a selecting of cuttings from old wetsuits to create his art. Picture: Kelly Barnes

He has long loved the idea of using neoprene as “paint”, pleased audiences have reacted so well to it and happy to be able to give new life to the old wetsuits.

“I just really love the history of the material, like thinking about, you know, using a material that has already been on an adventure … potentially various pretty fun adventures,” he says.

“I love that it is a flexible material … with a good connection to surfing as well.”

To create his artwork he chops up wetsuits donated by mates or sourced from op-shops focusing on “good little moments in the wetsuit” which he arranges, sews and frames.

His largest neoprene creation, now on show in an interstate art gallery, is a large wall slip which stretches 3m by 4m.

The artist and surfer incorporates performance as a part of his art. Picture: Instagram

And what of the pee aroma embedded in some of the wetsuits he receives – after all, all good surfers have to relieve themselves from time to time?

“Yeah, the smell of the wetsuits when I get them can sometimes be a bit nostalgic, shall we say … that’s a good nostalgia,” he laughs, adding the artwork is washed before it is framed.

Walker, who is a founder member of art and performance collective Bait Fridge and also mentors artists with a disability, is next hoping to head Los Angeles to further his studies at a California art school.

Originally published as Heaps Good South Aussies | Surfie artist Henry Jock Walker creates unique art with neoprene wetsuits