At Un Mar de Colores, we believe that one ocean connects us all – it touches every shore, every culture, and every people around the world. On our mission to create a broader, more welcoming surfing community we strive to bridge socio-economic gaps and encourage personal exploration and expression with a dream that coastal culture will one day be a leading example for a world built on equity for all people.

As a part of our #RepresentationMatters initiative, we highlight BIPOC water people who inspire us and are striving to build a better tomorrow. February is Black History Month—an opportunity to honor a long and tumultuous past, to educate ourselves to inform the steps we take forward as a collective, and to continue celebrating Black people who are making history today in order to build a better Black future.

One of those individuals who we look up to is Tre’lan Tillman —  an artist,  waterman, and visionary making waves in his community and beyond.  Tre’lan is a big wave surfer and natural-born philosopher and intuitive dreamer who poetically embodies what it looks like to live by shaping the world he wants to see. Through collages, conversations, and expression, Tre’lan is ever-evolving with visions of a universe where imagination is celebrated. A peek into his mind, below. 

Tre’lan is on most accounts a quiet, observant person who doesn’t like to talk himself up all that much. He admits that he is slowly realizing that his story, his art, and his voice all have power worth sharing, knowing that if it resonates with one other person, that is reason enough to share. 

“I’m sharing because I realize the impact and effect it can have on others”

To Tre’lan, surfing in California is cold water surfing. He cut his teeth in Kauai, an island known for its heavy waves, sharp reefs, and the influx of surf tourists. As one of the only African-Americans to surf big waves at Hanalei bay, it wasn’t rare that a year of surfing would pass without seeing anyone that looks like him. In California, on the other hand, he sees more of an interest and initiative for BIPOC to venture into the ocean. 

“I’m a fan of every black and brown person that’s
trying to make their way in America.” 

Surfing has taken him across the world: Indonesia, Northern Africa, Mexico—a far cry from his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Visiting dynamic, diverse spaces abroad for the sole purpose of wave riding, he’s found introspection in observing how he’s accepted in some spaces and an oddity in others. 

He sees his unique experiences learning from various cultures as an opportunity to communicate with his people because they speak the same language. Self-aware of his strengths and limitations, Tre’lan recognizes that he can serve as a resource to others by sharing his experiences and thoughts, something he’s moving towards. 

“Everything from meditation, to ayahuasca ceremonies, to sitting in sweat lodges with Native American elders—I’ve experienced a lot of life and I’m here to tell the tale”

Elusive and imitable, Tre’lan looks to practices like breathwork as the best path to understanding what’s occurring in his inner world so he can best show up for his community. In his eyes, a simple breath can do a lot of great things and take you into the present—both in and out of the water.

“Changing the world is just treating the person in your immediate vicinity better— it’s just exponential growth.”

More than an aquatic sport of leisure, Tre’lan sees surfing as a medium for stepping out of one’s comfort zone. It’s not about the physical act of riding a wave, but more of the intentionality of recognizing that while something may have a learning curve, it’s worth pursuing it even to ask the question, what if? The water acts as a safe vessel, one that encourages a sense of belonging, exploration, and radical unapologetic joy.  

When he’s not in the water, Tre’lan creates collages as an expressive medium. He prefers “stone-cold silence” when he sits down to create, letting the noise of found materials fill the space. Citing magazines like Time, Life, and National Geographic as his primary form of exposure, collages act as an opportunity to create an imagined reality. His approach has since resonated—landing his work in galleries as well as collaborating with Black artists like Gabriella Angotti-Jones. Tre’lan’s success allows the next generation to see someone like them thriving in the art world. 

“I started creating entire universes from what I wanted to view the world as” 

Today, his collaboration with Gabriella hangs on the walls of the children who participate in Un Mar de Colores’ surf program. It is one of the few surf posters that exhibit a young person of color as the main subject. The kids get to see someone who looks like them not only belonging but thriving in a space in which they seek to do the same. Tre’lan is filled with joy as we tell him, knowing that the universe he created is now inspiring young Black and Brown folks and is slowly becoming a reality that he is helping to create. Tre’lan’s ambassadorship for young BIPOC is helping pave the way for a Black future that is full of joy, exploration, and trying unfamiliar things—one artistic expression at a time. 

“Just because you don’t see it often, doesn’t mean it’s not something for you”

By Tre’lan’s side is his partner Jessa Willams, equally as fired up on creating a culture of inclusivity in and out of the water. Jessa leads Intrsxtn Surf, a surf collective formed to empower Black girls and women to feel like they can—and should—take up space in the water. By offering free surf lessons, she welcomes girls who may have never touched a surfboard or seen a wetsuit in real life to just try it out. Even if they only come once, that initial invitation and exposure serve as a reminder that yes, everyone belongs, and should feel a sense of belonging at the beach. 

Together and individually, Tre’lan and Jessa are creating space for expression and boldness towards building a better Black future. They are rewriting the narrative and cultivating the world they want to live in and want other Black folks to be able to enjoy and live in freely, too.

“I just want to tell other women of color—you matter and you should feel protected, anywhere, anytime.” — Jessa Williams

When asked where he sees himself in the future, Tre’lan tells us that the act of creating something—anything—in whatever medium feels right in that moment is key. He’s stepping into a space where he is commodifying himself in order to share his work—through selling prints, setting up pop-ups, and entertaining collaborations with brands. His next steps include partnering with brands, not as a token entity, but as a two-way invitation into the perceived world.

“I create because I don’t know how not to”

Tre’lan inspires us to follow our intuition and our driving passion without sacrificing who and what we are, and he inspires us to imagine the world we want to live in and create it for ourselves. Believing in the power of exponential growth with simple and direct action within your immediate circle to create deep and impactful change, he reminds us that we, too can change the world by starting where we are, with what we have – and most importantly, remembering that our story and experiences are worth sharing and hold value to create a space for solidarity, support, connection, and community.