Lourenço Borges de Sousa

For those of us that don’t know you - introduce yourself.

My name is Lourenço Borges de Sousa, I am 20 years old and from Estoril near Lisbon. I love to surf, skate and make art. Right now, I'm really into sculpturing, I'm studying sculpture in university. I'm honestly just a normal dude, living and trying to discover who I am. Going with the flow, and I'm doing what I love to do. I know that I'm in a phase of my life where I'm starting to do the projects that I feel are going to shape my future career… I just want to combine art, surf and skate. That's my goal.

How’s your hometown vibe?

I’m from Estoril, pretty much the Californian lifestyle equivalent in Portugal, you could say. It’s a really nice place to be, near the city, lots of waves around. I really like the place that I live, and I’m always grateful for that.

It’s cool as there’s this really big, diverse community of like-minded individuals – artists, surfers, skaters and musicians. I’m proud to identify with these people as my best friends. My best friends plays in a band so I spent a lot of time supporting them and watching their shows, it really inspires me. Surf-wise, we’re just a bunch of surfers that are passionate about surfing. Not trying to outcompete each other, only trying to better ourselves as people and surfers.

Your latest film, Daydream Lullaby Dream was a 23-minute epic mix of surfing, skating and art. It seems like it was a perfect encapsulation of your personality, yet quite a mature undertaking for someone at your stage. Talk us through that process?

One of my biggest dreams is to be to become a free surfer. Although I know, it's wrong, I believe in setting your goals really high, as you can be naïve as to how the process is – which in turn is part of the process. I made this project not really because I wanted people to watch it, but because I love to do it. I love to film, to create, to be in this creative process and learn more about it, to learn more about myself. Besides the surfing aspect, being able to create something like this with my best friend Joao is what it’s all about for me. That’s why I wanted my first project to be a bigger one, maybe it was a bit ambitious at the time, but it worked!

What’s next in the pipeline project-wise?

I'm working on a new project and hopefully a bigger project than the one I did before. I still don’t really have a set plan for it, I am deciding where I'm going with it and where we’ll travel to make it happen. So far we’d love to go to South Africa and Mozambique and then onto Angola. What I do know for sure is that I'm going to Ireland in October, I’ve always wanted to go there and I feel it’s a good place to push my limits in the water.

So where does sculpting play into all of this?

When I was a kid, I always loved to play with toys, but not in a normal way. I wanted to combine every toy with a different toy and create my own toy. I always loved to work with my own hands. It's such a zen feeling when you are doing it. I’ve tried to pursue that feeling ever since – it really reminds me of my childhood.

I always wanted to either study painting or sculpture. I felt like sculpture was more challenging to learn so I just grabbed the opportunity to study it. I’ve always made art, but have always been shy to show it until I was actually proud of the final pieces. I’ve actually just finished a six-piece collection that I’m proud to show to the world at last. I’m just working out the best way to present it.

Does that have a relationship with hand shaping your own boards?

I grew up liking surfboard factories and that's something that I always wanted to do - to shape my own boards. Actually, shaping boards was what inspired me to sculpture. When you're shaping a board you want, you need to create something that works. Unlike sculpture where what you make can serve no function, it can be totally useless. For me that’s what led me to sculpture – it’s all a question of meaning. I put a lot of thought into that, I’d say 90% of it is the thinking about what is going to work and what’s not – only 10% is actually making it - or for me anyway. I love the mix of the practical and the unpractical.

Riding hand shaped boards is so different. With a normal board, in theory, you know it’s going to ‘work’ and ‘do’ what surfboards traditionally do. Whereas with your hand shaped boards, you have no idea. I find it so surreal that you are riding something in water that you made with your own hands - it's almost magical.

And how is your relationship with skating?

I love it. I still don't know if I love skating or surfing more. When I'm skating, I don't have any stress, I feel zero pressure. I feel skating represents the ultimate freedom. I really look up to guys like Curren Caples who can do both.

Who are your role models in and outside of surfing?

I grew up watching my dad surfing, so him for sure. When I was six months old, he bought me a surfboard and I went to the beach; catching the whitewater waves. His favourite surfer was Dane Reynolds. Dad would always show me his films while I was growing up and I was I awestruck like ‘whoa, this is surfing’. I want to be like that. I want to do that. So since then, Dane has always been a massive inspiration to me as well.

Outside of surfing, I’m deeply inspired by Francis Bacon as an artist. Art, for me, is to make the viewer feel something, an emotion. Francis’ use of abstract and realism really stirs something inside me, it’s so complex - but these paintings really make me feel emotional and think a lot. Mazzy Star, the singer, is the same for me. It’s a different form of art – but when I listen to her I really feel something. I listen to her before I surf, I feel connected to myself and grounded.

Any last words?

Believe in yourself and have fun doing it. Enjoy the process of it all and remember to stay humble.