Carrier Craft is the handmade surfcraft building practice of Kyle Carrier, based in southern Maine. 

Each board blends traditional surfboard shaping with plant-dyed textiles, conifer-based bio-epoxy, and historical forms adapted for New England’s waves—merging functionality with artistic intent to explore themes of ecology, place, and time. 

Carrier shapes and glasses each board by hand, drawing from a lineage that spans early Hawaiian surfcraft, the longboard era of the 1950s–60s, and retro designs (hulls, kneeboards and fish shapes) that predate the shortboard revolution of the 1970s.

Guided by the idea that geography shapes both surfcraft design and material choice, Carrier sources pigments from the coastal ecology of the Piscataqua region for their color work. He forages wild flora, marine vegetation, and farm surplus to hand-dye textiles—using plant matter such as Dasysiphonia japonica (Japanese red algae), an invasive species signaling warming waters in Maine, and Solidago canadensis (Maine goldenrod), a resilient native pollinator in late summer and early fall, when larger hurricane swells arrive to Maine. These dyed fabrics are laminated into each board using traditional glassing patterns, forming layered compositions and color combinations that echo surfboard construction and the soft tints of mid-century surfcraft. Resin suspends these elements like a time capsule, preserving plant traces and seasonal hues. The unpredictability of natural dyeing mirrors surfing itself—a collaboration with nature, ultimately shaped by elements beyond our control.

By blending historical technique with ecological experimentation, Carrier reimagines surfcraft as vessels of artistic expression—objects that honor the landscapes we play in, preserve the passage of time, and gesture toward a more sustainable future.

Photographs: Hannah Jean, Zach Steere, & Brian Campisi