Wave House Studio Yallingup

[Griselda Humbarger]

Thehouse at 231 Injidup Spring Road was built as a recording studio, and artists including the Beastie Boys, Fat Boy Slim and The Waifs have all recorded at the expansive home overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Since listing the property, vendor Ken Eichenberg and fellow Wave House Studios founders called for donations to keep the studio afloat, setting up a Facebook page to live-stream performances from local bands impacted by COVID-19-related restrictions.

Mr York said he had received the highest number of inquiries he had ever seen for properties in the Yallingup area since the COVID-19-related lockdown in March and April, with people from Perth attracted to the area for its attractive lifestyle.

My parents moved from Scotland to Australia in the '60s and I was born in the '70s in the Northern Beaches [of Sydney] I lived near some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, but for some reason my family wasn't interested in that kind of environment, and I was the only one who always went to the beach.

I started surfing when I entered high school, so it's been over 30 years now. It's been over 20 years since I started working as an Artist. His wife, Dee, is Australian-Chinese, grew up in Western Australia and we now live in Fremantle in WA. The kids are Rafa Rose, a five and a half year old girl, a two year old boy, Beau Sunray, and another, Kawa Leaf, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge and became an angel. I also have a Labrador and her name is Nami. My wife lived in Japan in her early 20's, as you can see from Kawa [river] and Nami [wave] we like Japanese names.

After sending Rafa to school, I will take turns working or looking after my two-year-old son. Dee is a creative and stylist. She just published her first photo book "Love is". I have a studio at home, but I go to the Fremantle Art Centre two times a week to teach painting & life drawing and go to various places to paint murals.

I agree. A few years ago, when we renovated our home, we made a big decision to introduce a solar system. Western Australia is always sunny, so there's little need to buy additional energy. The garden is also full of native plants that require little water. In a little while, we plan to introduce recycled water and rainwater tanks for the veggie garden.

I sold my VW van two years ago and now we share one car, but in Australia it's extremely rare for a family to have one car [laughs]. Thanks to this, I have more opportunities to walk and ride bicycles with my children. It may be said that such a place is also an eco-friendly life.

Leighton in North Fremantle is a local spot, which has small waves and is perfect for beginners and kids. So sometimes I go to North to Trigg Beach. If you go 3 hours 'Down South' you will find world class surf spots such as Yallingup and Margaret River, and the waves are always the best. The good waves of a powerful reef break. I try to go there on holidays and weekends to surf and stay with friends.

What kind of board are you on?

Surfing is everything to me and I think it adds depth to my life. I started surfing in the late '80s and was fascinated by the images, photographs, music and magazines of that time. Northern Beaches, where I grew up, is an environment with world champion surfers, famous shapers, and excellent airbrush artists. In the late '90s, I also started airbrushing surfboards, painting murals, and immersing myself in motorcycles and clothes. Compared to those days, the euphoria of culture has decreased, and I have more contact with the sea itself. I look at myself through surfing and cherish my soul experience.

Tell us about your art.

In the fantasy seascape, there are many works that are conscious of Yin and Yang (In Yang = Everything, the Chinese idea that everything can be divided into Yin and Yang). It expresses the truth of light and shadow, and the quiet darkness behind the joy of deception hidden in the palm tree.

I'm glad to hear you mention about loneliness and nostalgia. I try to infuse this balance of yin and yang into my landscape-themed works. When we moved to the West Coast, we had just lost our 4-year-old daughter, Kawa Leaf, and we were in the depths of our heavy sorrow.

Since she was a baby, she would often look into my studio and ask for more flowers and waves in my paintings. After she passed, painting on bamboo blinds became an important time to heal from deep sorrow. I imposed a project on myself to produce 12 blind series over a year, and overcame such a difficult time.

This nostalgia comes from her memory. When I dream or think of her, it's like a series of photos, and the flashbacks of the fun memories aren't colorful at all, they're somehow faded, timeless, and at the same time very beautiful.

I ship overseas on my website. We often ship to Hawaii, California, New York, New Zealand and the UK, we have collectors in New Caledonia, and we have also sent to Japan. I can predict that it will be so, but most of the collectors in the world seem to live by the sea.

What are your next goals?

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