A Conversation With … Easty
Ella, better know by her affectionate nickname “Easty”, is a Sydney-based visual artist specialising in creating magnetic dream-scapes inspired by tangible experience. Her work explores the humour of surf culture, and her stance as a young-woman in a usually male-dominated hobby and profession has given her a unique cheekiness within the art-world. Well known for her fine-line, vibrant style, Easty admits in this candid convo that although her work takes inspiration from ancient storytelling and history recorded through mythologies, these creations come to her through inspiration sourced from the natural world and its mystical qualities.
BYO: How did you first get into illustration as your chosen medium?
EASTY: I’ve drawn pretty much my entire life. Ive always always always done some form of art. The stuff I’m doing now is super different to the stuff I was doing a couple of years ago. At risk of sounding super cliche, this change actually came off the back of a really horrific breakup. I had moved to Sydney to be with this guy and it was pretty much 2 years of mind-fuckery. It was just an awful relationship. After we broke up I realised I had felt a bit stuck and had tried to distance myself. One night I was just a bit red-wine drunk and I was like… “fuck this, fuck everyone, fuck him, Im gonna draw exactly what I want”. And so I just started doing more of the style that I illustrate now. And, people kinda liked it, so I kept doing it.
BYO: What or who inspires you?
EASTY: It’s definitely a mix of things. Surfing, obviously. And the culture that comes with it. The humour around surfing and the people that surf. Also, my friends. I find that they always say something really, really funny that, out of context, will make zero sense. It’s that sort of stuff that often ends up on a board, or in a piece. Also, a huge inspiration is the natural world, and the spiritual occultness of the my natural surroundings. The spirits and the water and the land and all the different mythologies and storytelling from around the world that are really interesting and inspiring. I find it really interesting when different belief systems and mythologies from way back when, I’m talking Ancient Greece, or Ancient China, when these systems line up and overlap. When there’s similarities in their stories…I find that super cool. So the spiritual side of the world I find super interesting. It gives me a little high when I’m drawing.
BYO: Yeah! I look at your work sometimes and it really reminds me of the Japanese supernatural, and mysticism. Like, that style seems incredibly influential in your work.
EASTY: I know exactly the style you’re speaking of - - I see it too. I never intended, or never had that in my mind when I was drawing. A few people have said that to me and I completely agree. It looks really similar. I’ll agree, the little red-scribbly stuff I do, when I first started doing that I was like “that’s very inspired by Orientalism”.
BYO: What’s the story behind the name Easty?
EASTY: My best friend, Harriet, and all of my other friends pretty much all live around Newtown, Erskineville, and Harriet once told me she had affectionately dubbed me ‘The Beast from the East’. It was around that time that she had also told me my art had started to get legs, and I was like…’Easty Beasty’ actually kind of works! It’s kind of being nice for me to create that kind of second ego to operate in. It means I can do whatever I want.
BYO: That’s awesome. So, are you a ‘classically-trained’ artist?
EASTY: No. Full credit to whoever is. But I hated art in high-school. It was awful. I had an awful art-teacher. But I had a teacher outside of school whose name was Stella and she was incredible. She would have kids over a couple nights a week, just after school, and she would teach us the basics. We just drew whatever we wanted and she would read out poetry to us and get all the parents involved. It was awesome. She is a huge idol of mine - - she was very progressive and forward-thinking. I had training from her, but I never went to any kind of art school.
BYO: Cool, that sounds like such a dream. What do you love most about your creative practice?
EASTY: I really like the feeling of physically putting something onto paper. It’s very kinetic. I don’t know if you ever feel this way, being in the creative field as well, but sometimes when you get a feeling or an emotion that’s just so fucking overwhelming and you feel so stuck with it that the only way you can process it is to draw something or to take a photo of something and release it. I feel like that’s very helpful. I love that about it. Just the feeling of being able to put that into something that you can show other people. I also love the reactions that some people have to my art.
BYO: Yeah, I feel like visual artists that actually make things, so paint, draw, or sculpt, they share that sentiment of feeling - - the “I want to share this feeling that I don’t know what to do with into something physical”. I feel like, in my practice, I get overwhelmed by these emotions and I want to get out of my body. So doing an activity like photography, I don’t have to express the emotion that I’m feeling, I just want to loose time.
EASTY: I completely agree with you - - like a meditative practice, or distraction. Not having to think about it for a bit, just changing the channel for a little while. I know exactly what you mean.
BYO: Yeah. So, going on from that, what role do you think artists play in contributing to society and the world?
EASTY: I don’t know. I think it’s the same as anyone who has a following, its an opportunity to create good change. All you have to do is look at how much money was raised from artists, musicians, writers during the bushfires. Particularly with social media, and Instagram, anyone who likes our work is an audience for a message we want to put out. I feel like we have as much power as anyone to push for change and be like “no this is fucked-up, it shouldn’t be this way”.
BYO: What themes do you like to explore in your work?
EASTY: Um, have you heard of surfing? [laughs] It’s this really cool sport! So yeah, obviously surfing.
BYO: [laughs]
EASTY: But yeah that, and the supernatural, the occult, and emotions. When I feel sad I wanna draw something sad, when I feel a bit cheeky, I’ll draw something a bit cheeky …
BYO: What does being an artist mean to you?
EASTY: Oh, lots of things. That’s a tricky question to answer. For me I don’t really know any different. I’ve never not done some form of art. It’s just me. And it’s just nice to be able to have something you can do and something that you can feel proud of. Just being able to express yourself. Being an artist I guess means being able to say how you feel in a visual form.
BYO: Ok, so then, what’s a bit shit about being an artist?
EASTY: People taking your work that they see on the internet and thinking it’s a free-for-all. I can’t stress this enough: just because it’s on the internet, does not mean it’s free. It’s so, SO frustrating, because you can’t do anything, you’re not gonna reach through the screen and shake them by the scruff of the neck. It’s not flattery, it’s rude. I just have to tell myself that people just don’t understand, and you just have to explain to them, as nicely as possible, that they can’t take your work.
BYO: What have you got planned for 2020?
EASTY: Making this last. Making it as much of a full time thing as I can. I’m going to be doing t-shirts - - that will happen in the next 6 months. I wanna start pushing my medium a little bit and step outside my box. Doing whatever I want basically, and changing my medium.
