Video & Photography by Anouk Klapp | Interview by Robin Pailler
It’s always nice to see the youth of today putting out independent surf edits.
Having made waves on the QS (pun intended), albeit missing out on the Challenger series, Noah Klapp has recently shifted her focus back to her two main passions; namely free surfing and painting.
The result being this delight 3 minute short INAMORATA. Named after the accompanying song by Mareux, INAMORATA is a celebration of Noah’s innate talent, both in the water and on canvas, exquisitely put together by her sister Anouk.
We caught up with Noah to discuss her multinational upbringing, taking a break from competing and why drawing weird creatures is therapeutic .
Hey Noah, what’s going on? Where you at at the moment?
Hey hey! Nothing much. I’m currently in Hawaii, planning on spending the next few weeks over here to catch some swells and getting away from the cold water and wetsuits back home.
How’s 2024 been for you? Competing, surfing etc.
2024 has definitely been a formative year for me. I started the year finishing off the QS season and missing out on the challenger series once again, competing on 1 ft waves on the east coast and just asking myself why I was even there. I also lost my sponsor around the same time so I was really down. I had a hard talk with my family and decided to not compete for the remaining of 2024, relive surfing for fun again, something that I hadn’t experienced in a while. I soon found myself feeling an immense sense of relief and excitement to surf again. No pressure, no expectations. Spent some much needed time at home in the summer and got back into drawing and painting, hung out with my family and surfed my local breaks. I ended up heading to Europe to participate in a few comps and did really well getting a few runner ups and placing third on the challenger event I entered as an alternate. I think the reason I started to compete well is because I didn’t really care how I did. I was just surfing. I still have no idea where I’m going from here but this year I learned to accept that it’s completely normal and everyone is kinda lost.
For those that don’t know can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your multinational upbringing?
So I was born and raised in Spain, lived on a farm in the country side until I was 10. That’s when my family packed up everything and made the jump to move to California, I didn’t know two words of English at the time and it was quite a culture shock. I’ve been living in California since then. Even though I was born in Spain and live in the US my parents are German and I surf under the German flag. When people ask me where I’m from, I honestly don’t really know what to say to them haha.
How did you first get into surfing?
I first got into surfing when I moved to California, we lived close to the beach and my Dad would take me and my siblings down almost everyday. When my Dad saw how quickly I improved he took the role of a coach and it just evolved from there. My brother Nahuel and I are close in age so we would naturally try to better each other in a very annoying sibling type of way, but it helped us push one another.
Any key idols/inspirations growing up?
I didn’t really have any idols or anything growing up, it wasn’t a big surf community where I lived so I kinda just surfed but wasn’t immersed into the surf world until much later on. I’d take trips down to San Clemente and that’s where I could really compare myself with other girls and see the best of the world out in the lineup. As of now I’d say my favourite surfer is Dane Reynolds. I definitely get hyped to surf after watching his edits.
You’re quite the artist too! Have you always painted? Where did that journey begin?
I’ve been drawing since I was very little, my whole family is very creative and artistic. My Dad is very gifted and has always pushed me and my siblings to do anything that involves art or creating. He always says surfing will only last so long but art you can do forever. My Mom is awesome too, she has a little pottery studio and just loses herself in there making sculptures and stuff. Our whole house is filled with her creations.
As for me I’m trying to find my place in art. It’s something I want to find more time for and experiment with. Art is very therapeutic for me. Once I start a new piece I can spend all day arched over my desk getting lost in every little detail.
Your art has this very surreal/abstract quality to it, verging almost on psychedelic somewhat. Where does that inspiration stem from?
Yeah I’ve been struggling to find “my style” in art, so I’m experimenting with everything hoping something clicks. I’m very good at realism, meaning I can make a picture-like drawing pretty effortlessly and even though that impresses a lot of people, I don’t find it that interesting. Drawing weird creatures and fantasy like things is a lot more fulfilling for me. It’s not for everyone and that’s something that I have to be okay with. A lot of my art can be seen as creepy or strange. But I like it and at the end of the day that’s why I do it.
INAMORATA beautifully showcases your talent within both passions. Did you always have that concept in mind?
I’ve always wanted to make something to combine both of my passions but they’re such different things that I wasn’t sure how to approach it. I brainstormed with my sister Anouk and we figured by having such bold cuts and contrast between surf and painting it could almost work. This wasn’t a big production or anything like that, it’s just an idea I had and fortunately my family helped me bring it to life.
How long did you work on the clip and the canvas itself?
The idea actually came after I took a little trip to El Salvador with my Dad and we got some good surf clips. I was bored of just posting Instagram reels that people forget about after a minute, so I felt like I could use the clips to make something different and bigger, something more me. When I got back home I bought the biggest canvas I could find and got started on painting, overall probably took two months, I traveled a few times in between so it prolonged the process.
Great song choice too! Did you or Anouk choose that?
Yeah we needed something really upbeat but not overwhelming to make the edit engaging so we thought the song worked great. A lot of times I listen to music I envision surf edits to go with them and when I showed my sister this song, she agreed it was a good match. I usually listen to older songs and was leaning towards rock more but I thought that was too seen in surf edits.
What’s on for the rest of year?
Rest of the year I’m planning to just train and get better, I really want to get some bigger barrels this winter. Coming from California we don’t really get that opportunity often so I’m excited to get some swells in Hawaii or maybe Puerto Rico. No more comps for this year so it’s really about improving and finding myself.
What’s your plan/goals for 2025? Can we expect any more independent video projects?
For 2025 I’m going to aim towards making more art, want to make a collection of sorts and who knows maybe exhibitions if it goes well. I’m happy with the result and reaction of my first video so I’ll be continuing to create similar projects and hopefully grab a sponsors attention so I can afford to do so. Overall INAMORATA was a video I made to show people that you can do things a bit differently, and to show myself that I could make something I’m proud of.
