Chances are you’ll have seen Sam Absurd’s work, even if you don’t know it…

The Western Sydney artist has covered walls around the country, created activations, and as of last week, launched a capsule with Champion as part of their Worn Like A Champion drop with the NBL. Sam’s style is hard to put into a box. Maximalist and colourful, his work is always textured and stacked with action, as if the characters and colours are exploding off the wall or canvas.

Which brings us to the Worn Like A Champion collection. Taking his unmistakable style from the streets to a series of tees, Sam has reimagined the identities of some of the NBL’s biggest teams, bringing a little graffiti culture to the basketball court in the process.

We caught up with Sam to talk about the crossover between graffiti and basketball, why working with Champion means more to him than winning awards, the next generation of Australian street artists and whether AI is giving them something to worry about. We also asked him to settle a very important debate: which NBL team has the best colourway?

Check out our chat below, and shop Sam Absurd’s Champion collection here.

The collab looks great! How would you rate your basketball skills?

Thank you! My basketball skills are quite sub-par if I’m being honest, although I used to play a little bit in high school and still enjoy playing with mates in my free time.

Purely as an artist, which NBL team has the best colourway/logo?

This is going to sound super biased but the Sydney Kings. The colours and the logo are both creative and fun, a close second would be the Brisbane Bullets.

Tell us how you came to these designs. Is it hard to apply your style to an already existing piece of iconography?

There is quite a lot of overlap between graffiti street culture and the basketball culture, so it was an organic translation style-wise. My style is fortunately highly adaptable so applying to an existing piece of iconography was naturally smooth and a lot of fun!

There’s a bit of an underdog status to both graffiti and the NBL in Aus. Was that something that crossed your mind while composing these works?

Absolutely, I think this also contributes to the overlap in cultures to some degree, but they both possess that underdog status of humble beginnings and grassroots approach to work ethic, authenticity and rawness, which I ultimately wanted to focus the designs and compositions around.

How does your approach change when designing something for a shirt compared to a large-scale mural?

My approach shifts a bit as they are essentially different canvases with different needs and approaches. I focused strongly on the line-work of the designs with the shirts as I know from experience that heavy coloured prints on shirts can get quite claustrophobic and uncomfortable. With the Champion brand in mind, especially the high-caliber movement and need for breathability, I have ensured the designs sit comfortably on the shirts with maximum ease and practicality, whilst maintaining an aesthetic and holistic design view as a priority.

What’s it like working with a company like Champion? Do these kinds of deals mean more to you than awards or recognition? Or does that stuff not even clock?

Working with the team at Champion for their ‘Worn Like A Champion’ campaign is exciting because it gives my work a chance to exist in a connected but completely different space. Coming from a graffiti and public art background and seeing my work scaled and translated onto clothing that will potentially be worn by people all over Australia is a surreal and humbling experience.

I appreciate awards and recognition, but opportunities like this mean more to me personally as I have never really made awards the goal. My interests are in making good work that pushes the boundaries of my practice, and getting to collaborate with such a renowned brand that I grew up knowing and recognising definitely has more of an impact.

You work a lot with the younger generation of graffiti artists. What would your advice be to an up-and-comer who sees your Champion work and wants to reach that stage?

I think it is crucial to the culture and society as a whole to nurture and mentor the younger generations coming up. I had a couple of mentors growing up myself such as legends Mistery and Spice, and to now be in a position to do the same feels like an honour and a duty. For younger artists, I would advise to concentrate on developing their own unique voice and style, there is no shortcut, put the hours in, challenge yourself, and surround yourself with like-minded people.

Are young artists worried about AI? Do you think they should be?

I think young artists are definitely thinking about AI in general, from my experience most young artists are using it as a tool to help them learn and streamline their creative processes but I do believe they are also worried about the future, it is a very strange time in the AI space and I believe everyone (not just young creatives) needs to seriously consider how regulation needs to keep up with the exponential growth and expansion of AI.

If you had to pick one of these designs to blow up into a massive mural somewhere in Australia, which one and where?

It would definitely be the one below as I think a design like that in more detail on a large scale would have a huge impact in the public space and represent both Champion and myself in an authentic and creatively collaborative way. In terms of where, it would have to be in Western Sydney!