Pandora Decoster is a French artist and surfer who emerged from the vibrant surfing culture of Biarritz, France, deeply influenced by her grandfather's surf shop and her mother's artistic encouragement. Her artistic journey began as a deeply personal exploration of emotions, transitioning from painting her inner struggles to creating luminous, pastel-hued scenes of surfer girls that capture the peaceful essence of her coastal upbringing. Rooted in the longboarding scene and inspired by artists like Frida Kahlo and the Nabis movement, Decoster has transformed her art into a successful career that celebrates the beauty and freedom of surfing and feminine grace.
Tell us a little about yourself, where you grew up, family, schooling and anything else you want to share about your childhood etc.
Hello! My name is Pandora. I am from Biarritz, France. I was born there and I grew up on top of Côte des Basques, in the loft of my grandfather who had a surf shop in the 80's. The surf shop called Hangar was right on top of the beach , and was demolished to build a roundabout . Bummer… apparently it was super cool, there was a skate bowl in the basement. All that was left from those good years was the amazing loft my grandfather built in a big old warehouse . When he got older, he left Biarritz because it was becoming too touristy, so my mom decided to live there so I could be close to my favorite beach, and I could surf. She was so amazing. She always made it possible for me to surf. Sometimes, she let me skip class so I could surf when the waves were good. I was lucky to spend so much time surfing there when I was younger.
When did you start surfing, and what was the experience like?
When I was fourteen years old I was lucky to have been surrounded by several amazing surfers such as Clovis Donizetti, Robin Falxa, Julien Gri, Régis, and Hélène Chabeau, who were some of the only classic longboarders at that time. I immediately started longboarding, even though all my friends were into shortboarding. I was dreaming, watching Clovis being so stylish and mellow on his log. At the time, it was insane for me to discover this unique style of surfing.
As a child I was always obsessed with the ocean. As soon as I turned 12 my mom took me to a surf school and my grandfather got me my first board , it was a Roxy mini Malibu, pink with blue hibiscus flowers; I loved it so much, however, I asked my mom to buy me a real longboard and bought a big log from my friend Amaya Gomis. I really did not know what kind of a board it was, some sort of thick thruster log . Amaya was my very good friend back in the day, she along with with Margaux Arramon and her sister Aimée founded in 2021, the Queen Classic Surfing Festival, an inclusive longboarding event that celebrates people in all forms.
During the early years, we were a big group of girls surfing and experimenting, and I was stoked that Amaya's father, who was a European longboard champion, sold me his board. Soon, I was hanging out with Clovis and Robin, I wanted a single fin board like they rode. One of their friends , Manu , was selling his used Carioca orange longboard. Carioca was one of the only classic brands around, shaped by Ricardo from Brazil. I took the orange log out in la cote, and there was a guy watching me surfing He came to me and said - I love the way you surf, would you like to surf for me? It was Daniel, the mythic Daniel's shaper, the shaper of Clovis and Robin and Julien. I couldn't believe it .
Then everything started happening very fast, I got sponsored by Roxy and started surfing boards by Australian shaper Phil Grace , consequently I got kicked out of Daniel’s sponsorship. During these years, I got to surf so many good boards from a lot of different shapers like Eric Maurus, Robin Kegel (Gato Heroi).
Share details about your art practice, its beginnings, did you attend an art school,and which artists have had an influence on your work?
My mom is a very good painter, she studied at Penninghen in Paris and has such a natural talent. I'm lucky she made me go to art school for little kids when I was a child , and she always made me draw. When I started painting at around 14, she taught me a lot. I was so into it that I went to a special high school in Bayonne with a lot of art options.
Right after getting my CGE degree in France, I started traveling in California and Australia and went to art school at Beaux Arts, after I got kicked out of Roxy, I was twenty two years old. During my Roxy years I was painting a lot and making films. I didn't stay long in art school because I was looking for a more traditional education with art history rather than very conceptual art, which I love too. At the time, I didn't see myself making a living from my work.
I like to paint figurative subjects, still life, landscapes, and my favorite if painting portraits. After art school I was a bit lost and confused, I started traveling again to figure out what I was gonna do and at the age of twenty five I decided to become a painter. I was painting images of my feelings at the time, which were confusion and sadness , because I was feeling very lost and desperate. I have some deep family issues and I was using painting to express my sorrow. It was dark and mysterious and cosmic.
Painting the darkness put me even more in that frame of mind, and one day after a trip to Morocco I thought I really had to put myself together, and start making a stable living . I thought , I don't think people want my confusion on their walls right ? I asked myself what do they want ? That's how I started to paint Côte des Basques with pastel colors and peaceful surfer girls. The luminous part of my life , the old days surrounded by beautiful surfer girls .Images that could also appease me. Surfing is and will always be the center of everything , what made me who I am, and what makes me feel better .
Growing up my favorite artist was Frida Kahlo and she inspired me a lot before when i was painting more about my sorrow. I always had been a big fan of all Nabis and impressionist artists , like masters Marie Laurencin, Maurice Denis, Claude Monet, Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard and Jacqueline Marval who is one of the best, unfortunately she is not well recognized . Her paintings are incredibly beautiful and she also painted a lot of paintings of Biarritz in the 20s. I also love David Hockney style probably more than anything.
How has your work changed over the years and themes you have been working out in your work?
When I decided to become a painter I guess I was already a painter, but I decided I wanted to actually sell paintings to make a living. Before painting was a way for me to express the heaviness stuck inside myself, however to make a living as an artist I needed to paint the bright side of my life to sell my work. I took away shadows of shapes and forms, flattened everything into pastel bright and soft colors and made some ladies look peaceful.
The ladies I paint are very long and kind of skinny most of the time , at first I didn’t really realized it but a lot of people noticed it to me and asked me why. I think it’s due to my family history. My grandmother was in the fashion world in the 70s, so she was very strict about weight, and society in general makes us believe skinny is more beautiful in the collective imagery. Also I was fired from my sponsor after I gained weight and cut my hair pretty badly, I developed very low esteem and hated my body (but that is a pretty common thing in the girl world). I’m trying to slowly change that and paint women differently .
Books that have inspired you?
Agua Viva of Clarice Lispector, Incredibly beautiful poem about the feelings and visions of life at the sea.
Pandora on IG @pandora_decoster
Current Exhibit at Alder Smith Gallery, 1636 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, California December 7, 2024- January 6, 2025. adlersmithgallery.com
Karina Rozunko @katarinarozunko
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