Kim Cepedes
mixed media collage on Bristol paper
18 X 24”
Kim Cepedes grew up a rough and tumble Tomboy in San Diego, California during the 1970’s some of the most formative years of skateboarding. She was 14 years old at the time when she started skateboarding. She with her younger brother would go bombing hills. With her surfy style, she was the gnarliest female on deck. Hobie Skateboards recognized her style and talent and added her to their team of innovators. On the Hobie team, Kim helped pioneer the first freestyle skateboard contest in Tokyo, Japan with sponsorships from the likes of Nike and the Coca-Cola company. Although at that time, despite there being only a handful of other female skateboarders, the camaraderie was high however the interaction was low. Most of the ladies on deck had only skate parks or the occasional skate contest as chances to interact and skate with one another. Despite this, their interactions sparked lifelong connections and genuine respect despite their diverse riding styles. Learning to transfer her surfing to the concrete through skateboarding Kim remarked in a 2016 interview with Larry Balma as saying, “If I wasn’t surfing, I skated every night. I was always at the skatepark trying to get better in increments, like, Oh, I’m going to learn this trick by that time. I was always trying to learn new tricks. It would take a while, but once I got it, I moved on to another trick. But mostly, I was in love with surf skating and just feeling like I was riding a surfboard. That was my main motivation. I just wanted to cut loose, carve big turns and do all of the surf maneuvers.” Today, Kim can still be found shredding gnarly waves and cruising down the street barefooted on her longboard.
Kim Cespedes was inducted into the Skateboard Hall of Fame in 2017.