Spirited Connection – Otis Hope Carey

From gallery and mural walls to surfwear and watch straps, Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung artist Otis Hope Carey’s work is widely admired. But at the crux of his practice are very intimate threads, each woven with the stories of his family, community and self-reflection.

Talking to Otis Hope Carey, it becomes apparent that pursuing an artistic life is deeply intuitive and vital to his being and understanding of his place in the world. Known for his graphic, layered and patterned murals and totem sculptures, the First Nations artist has garnered acclaim and attention. You’ll find his broad paint strokes on the walls of Capella Sydney, Capella Singapore and Louis Vuitton’s Brisbane boutique. Otis has also collaborated with Billabong, Ruinart and, most recently, luxury watch manufacturer Longines. You’ll even find his distinctive lines and shapes inside friend Chris Hemsworth’s home and on the tasselled cloak the actor wears as Thor in the opening scenes of Thor: Love and Thunder.

Known for his graphic, layered and patterned murals and totem sculptures, the First Nations artist has garnered acclaim and attention.

And while this demand for his work isn’t surprising to those who have seen his 2020 Wynne Prize finalist entry Ngalunggirr miinggi (healing spirit), Otis’s practice started as a way for him to manage his mental health. “I was finding an outlet for a more expressive form of exploring who I was,” he recalls. “I was going through a lot of depression, and I needed another outlet to express myself, to just find something to make myself feel better and reconnect with myself. Painting was a form of that.”

A Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung man, Otis began experimenting with paint and canvas in 2014. Long before he found art, he had chosen another path: professional surfing. The ocean – Gaagal, a spiritual totem of the Gumbayngirr people – has always spoken to his soul. Otis grew up between Grafton and Coffs Harbour, immersing himself in the saltwater and learning to glide along the crest of a wave. “I used to think the two were two very different things, but they actually go hand in hand,” he reflects on his art practice and near-daily surfs. “Much like the way that I express myself on a wave, it’s the same shapes and movements on a canvas.” Nowhere is this connection made clearer than in Ngalunggirr miinggi (healing spirit), a piece about his grandmother returning into Gaagal.

The ocean – Gaagal, a spiritual totem of the Gumbayngirr people – has always spoken to his soul.

Otis’s exploration of storytelling is driven by his personal history. “I use a lot of colours that I like, that are easy to look at through my lens, and a lot reference back to flowers on headlands around where I grew up and the colour of certain rock pools,” he says. Without doubt, his First Nations culture is deeply apparent. “I take old traditional symbols and simplify them in a way that’s contemporary and new in terms of form and shapes. I think that’s why a lot of people can connect with it and understand it,” he says. “I always say my work is not just me, it’s my community. I don’t paint just for me – I paint to share my people’s stories.”

That sense of community extends to his creative counterparts. “It’s important for other Blak creatives, or even any other Blak person in a profession that they’re succeeding at, to have another Blak person in the same sort of bubble that they’re in to be able to talk to and lean on,” he says. “But for the most part, there’s a lot of people within my community at home who I have conversations with and talk about culture and just all that knowledge, so that’s important. That’s more important.”

Despite the freeform nature of the undulating lines and determined dots, there is a rather practical approach to the mural process.

Away from the gallery walls, working with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Capella Sydney and Longines have all been incredible experiences. “I feel that a lot of the bigger companies have more of an awareness, cultural sensitivity and understanding of how to approach Indigenous artists,” he says. His collaboration with Longines involved a year of developing watch straps adorned with his motifs and made from recycled plastic. “It still feels surreal,” he says of the project.

Despite the freeform nature of the undulating lines and determined dots, there is a rather practical approach to the mural process. “On the day we start, I spend probably half an hour to an hour looking at the wall, just envisioning what I’m going to paint,” he says. “Usually the mock-ups we send to clients, they’re not super detailed, so I always want to just make sure I’ve got the flow right, I know where it’s going to end up and where it’s going to vibrate out towards, where the story’s going to start and finish on the wall.”

Even though Otis “pretty much knows” the outcome of a mural when he starts, he appreciates that “the work has to have its own space to be able to move and tell a story.”

Even though Otis “pretty much knows” the outcome of a mural when he starts, he appreciates that “the work has to have its own space to be able to move and tell a story.” And the highly self-reflective nature of his practice does take a toll. “I give so much of myself,” he says. “I get really burnt out, especially when I paint murals. I’m channelling something that goes deep, so it’s pretty exhausting.” And while the opportunities with luxury partners have been rewarding, art has proven invaluable and intrinsic to his sense of self. “At the end of the day, I don’t paint to be in the spaces. I just paint. It makes me feel better. It makes me a better person.”