Ciro Bicudo is a Brazil­ian surfer and artist who cre­ates a world with his art called Organik. Stoked both on life and surf­ing, his pos­i­tiv­ity is sim­ply infec­tious. Ciro was kind enough to spend some time with us.

What was life like grow­ing up?
I grew up in a big fam­ily with 5 peo­ple – my par­ents, a sis­ter and a brother. We lived in the coun­try, a city called Piraci­caba. My grandma lived on the coast in a city called Peruibe and we use to pass the week between the city and the beach. My con­nec­tions with skate­board and surf were made in that time. Piraci­caba city used to have this cool under­ground scene, so the music and the DIY was absorbed in me since my youth. The art came from my mom, an inte­rior designer, so my sis­ter and I got it from her. Skate­board­ing, surf­ing, music and art was always a part of my day.

Who did you look up to and admire when you were a young?
But­tons and Tom Cur­ren are my favorite surfers, also Tommy Guer­rero, Steve Caballero, Natas Kas­pas, Mark Gon­za­les where my favorite skate­board­ers. Rick Grif­fin, Jim Philips, John Sev­er­son, Klint, these guys were my first heroes. Later, my sec­ond team of heroes was, Rob Machado, Joel Tudor, Ben Harper, Thomas Camp­bell, Mike Val­ley, Drew Bro­phy, Jack Ker­ouack, Charles and Bukowski.

When did you get your first surf­board?
My grand­mother lived in a beach town called Peruibe, and I always have a great con­tact with the ocean. I don’t really remem­ber when but my first board, but I do remem­ber my BZ body­board. And when I turned 14 years old, I ordered my first thruster. It was a dream come true.

What was the feel­ing you had when you first stood on a surf­board?
It was supreme free­dom and the most ener­getic thing that I have ever felt. And to see a wave of another angle was one of the most beau­ti­ful things that I have seen. I remem­ber look­ing to my friend and I could not stop laugh­ing. I was so stoked.

Where did you inter­est in art come from?
My mother grad­u­ated from dec­o­ra­tion and design school and she always taught my broth­ers and me about col­ors and draw­ing. But what really influ­enced me were jazz album cov­ers, skate­board graph­ics, and surf graph­ics. Logos and T-shirts. Some of the design­ers and artists had side projects other than their own work, and were more focused in art and con­cept. Artists like, Evan Hecox, Grif­fin, T.Campbell, Kinsey.

What is your process when cre­at­ing your art?
I try to trans­late it to my per­sonal world, some­thing sim­i­lar to a trip in an organic won­der­land. I love colours and organic shapes. I always paint in a free cre­ative way. It’s a white land­scape and I never known what I’m going to make. I just let my imag­i­na­tion flow.

Of all the places you have trav­eled to, what place in par­tic­u­lar stands out? And why?
One of my favorite places, is a secret spot near my grandmother’s home. Good waves, warm weather. It’s the place that I started to surf and it’s always a good vibra­tion when I’m there.

What is it that makes you such a nice per­son? What code do you live by?
I grew up in a fam­ily envi­ron­ment. Respect and kind­ness are the things that our par­ents taught us. I always treat peo­ple the best that I can, because I want peo­ple to treat me the same way. And every­thing you plant comes back to you. If you plant love, respect, friend­ship, it will all come back to you.

Who/what inspires you?
Aloha spirit, surf cul­ture, art, a lot of songs, my friends, life, free­dom and the power to catch waves„ and to slide down on a skate­board. A lit­eral jazz jam session.

What is the great­est thing you have learned in your life?
Surf, skate­board, music influ­ences my art, so every­day I try to get involved and it makes me immensely sat­is­fied. That pas­sion is the gen­er­a­tor power for my life. Always per­se­ver­ing, being calm, and hav­ing the humil­ity to learn in every moment. Through art I have met a lot of friends and exchanged experiences.

Do you have any regrets or wish you had done some­thing dif­fer­ently?
Some regrets, but maybe I wouldn’t change. Every regret shows me the wrong acts that I need to change to be a bet­ter person.

What are you most proud of?
When I see kids and old peo­ple con­tem­plat­ing my art instal­la­tions, they exhibit two com­pletely dif­fer­ent reac­tions. It’s always a plea­sure pre­sent­ing my per­sonal fan­tasy world to other people.

What mean­ing does surf­ing hold for you and how has it changed your life?
When I was young I was very anx­ious and always acted by impulse. With surf­ing, I learned to be calm and think about every act. Surf­ing has made me bet­ter because every action has a reac­tion. Also, the ocean is one of the bet­ter places to think about what you need to change to live better.

What brings you the most hap­pi­ness in the world?
Meet­ing peo­ple, shar­ing beers, and exchang­ing expe­ri­ences. Cook­ing with my fam­ily. I could say mil­lions of sim­ple moments that make me happy.

Who are some of the peo­ple you feel are shap­ing the path for surf­ing today?
Felipe Siebert and David Alle. I love their boards. Kyle Light­ner and Jair Bor­to­leto, amaz­ing pho­tos. Yusuke Hanai, Theo Het­her­ing­ton, Tyler War­ren, Emil Kozak. Ryan Hey­wood, High Sea Films, Simon Whitney/Mick Sowry with their Musica Sur­fica, Jamie & Jay Wat­son – all amaz­ing friends, artists, and curators.

What is in your cur­rent quiver? What is your favorite board? Your favorite surfspot?
A short­board 6’4, a Fish 6′. A Siebert/Bicudo hand­plane (a col­lab between us). My favorite surfspot is the secret spot by my grandma’s house, and Moçam­bique in South Brasil.

What’s your favorite meal?
Japan­ese food, my father´s bar­be­cue, and when we made craft pasta in my fam­ily. Always an amaz­ing vibra­tion, wine and Ital­ian food.

What are you cur­rently lis­ten­ing to on your iPod?
Music is an impor­tant part of my life. I’d say infi­nite songs. Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Coltrane, Thelo­nious Monk, Tommy Guer­rero, Matt­son 2, San Prekop, Ben Haper, Drag the River, Chuck Ragan, Chad Price, Neil Young, Dylan, ALL/Descendents, Ran­cid, Dag­Nasty, Uni­form Choice, Ter­ror, Lag­wagon, Nofx, Shai-hulud, OWEN, Matt Costa, Death Cab For Cutie, Garage Fuzz, Sub­lime, Long Beach Dub All Stars, Tom Jobim, Vini­cius de Moraes, Baden Powel, MCC, I could go days talk­ing about them all…

Any upcom­ing projects?
I have a future project with Jamie Wat­son, some col­labs with friends Siebert and David Alle. A project with my bother between art and good stuff (com­ing soon). Always spread­ing the love, try­ing to be a bet­ter per­son and help the good causes.

What’s next for Ciro Bicudo?
Wel­come every­one to organik world. I hope every­one feels good. And always spread the love. Peace.

For more infor­ma­tion on Ciro Bicudo, fol­low his blog here.