Mike "Nemo" Nemnich

Indonesia's location in the Pacific "Ring of Fire" makes it one of the most geologically fragile regions in the world. Prone to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and flooding, the archipelagic nation is in a constant state of flux, as witnessed in 2004, when an earthquake centered in Sumatra, the largest of Indonesia's 17, 508 islands, triggered a devastating tsunami, claiming the lives of some 280,000 people and laying waste to much of the country and surrounding areas.

In human terms, the disaster is counted as one of the deadliest in modern history, and while victims' families will struggle with their tragic loss for generations to come, the environmental damage it caused is sure to exceed the scope of living memory. As far away as the Maldives, for instance, many of the coral reef atolls which were inundated by the tsunami's gargantuan waves are now without fresh water, rendering them uninhabitable for decades. In Indonesia itself, the shoreline has receded to such an extent that once submerged sections of reef are now fully exposed, and coral clefts where fish once foraged for algae and urchins now sprout mangroves, pineapples and banana plants.

Though he wasn't in his beloved Indonesia at the time of the disaster, artist Mike Nemnich observed these ravages firsthand. "It'd been almost 2 ½ years since I was last there," he remembers, "and seeing the devastation was terrible. After the tsunami, you could walk out over sections of reef we'd been surfing over not long before. The shore pretty much stretched out about 100 yards."

Nemnich, widely known as "Nemo," who enjoys dual fame as an East Coast surfing legend and probably the most popular artist to have emerged from the Florida surf art scene, counts Indonesia as one of his strongest influences. "It's such an artistic culture," Nemnich tells me, "geographically, spiritually, topographically. You see amazing art everywhere. The beauty you find there is unbelievably intense."

Even after a day's worth of surfing spots like G-Land, Nemnich finds time to process the images he's been assailed with back on the boat. "I always bring materials with me -- my laptop, a digital camera. As much as I love surfing, there's so much more to life than riding waves. I like to decompress and go through photos and impressions at the end of the day. I'm influenced all the time by everything that I see, and in Indonesia that mechanism kicks in even stronger. If there's an ethnic feel to my artwork, that's where it comes from."

As if wholly absorbing the spirit of the culture, Nemnich also counts its eternal state of change as another force driving his _expression. "I don't like to do the same old thing," he says. "Sometimes I think I change too much; sometimes I'm all over the board. But if I don't change things up, then I start feeling like creating has become just another job or that I'm forcing things to happen. And I don't like that."

He earned rightful renown back in the early '80s for airbrushing surfboards and painting colorful renditions of waves and beach scenes, but fans might have a hard time pinpointing some of his later fine art pieces as genuine "Nemos." For though they bear the imprint of his deft hand, they no longer overtly depict the subjects that first garnered him such widespread appeal.

"The fine art I'm focusing on these days is part of a slow progression from my surf art," he muses. "Back then, if I was painting a wave, I was trying to catch a really subtle mood. I used the least amount of detail I could, and when I look at them now, there's actually a lot going on -- something ethereal you can't quite pinpoint. I've always liked pieces that aren't so direct, and I've tried to tie that into my more recent stuff."

A ubiquitous presence at many state and nationwide art shows, Nemnich often runs into past customers who lament the disappearance of their beloved beachy subjects: curling waves, swaying palms and rays of brilliant, bright sherbet sunlight. These elements still feature in some of his work, but for the most part they've been subsumed by more stylized themes: deep-hued landscapes, primitivistic symbols, and Modigliani-inspired faces with almond eyes, aquiline noses and gently arcing eyebrows, their serene _expressions suggestive of vague moods, meanings and messages. Unsurprisingly, they've proven just as successful.

Like a true creator -- a conduit for some greater, intangible source -- Nemnich is a poor translator of each painting's meaning. "People tell me they've discovered hidden meanings in a piece they own," he says. "But I don't even know what those meanings are. I'll catch it later, maybe, after someone's told me, but really, I never begin with an intention. I just like getting new ideas and running with them."

This connection to his customer base overflows into Nemnich's relationship with his peers. In the many strictly-juried shows in which he participates, he finds inspiration in the art of fellow participants. "Some of the stuff I see is just mind-blowing," he tells me, his eyes widening in disbelief. "I'll get finished walking the circuit and I'll ask myself, 'What do these people see in my work?'. There are so many talented people out there."

Frequent trips to NY during his youth occasioned visits to some of the country's finest museums, and the work of past luminaries like Basquiat and Dubuffet still resounds strongly in Nemnich's fertile mind. "The hardest thing to do is a piece that really says something -- something that moves people," he offers enthusiastically. "When you see a Van Gogh right in front of you, for instance, you begin to question your motives."

Whatever those motives might be, Nemnich tackles a host of different media with equal verve. His Indialantic home contains two well-stocked studios (one downstairs devoted to water-based creation, and the other upstairs, for oil-based materials) and its walls are adorned with artifacts collected from travels, the work of fellow artists, and a selection of his own pieces which reveals a broad range of styles. In addition to having mastered several disparate genres of painting, he's also a highly-skilled printmaker, photographer and fabric designer, as well as the artistic director for the Cocoa Beach Surf Company. "If I feel I'm getting into something too steady," he claims, "I'll switch media to get things looking fresh again."

If one feature characterizes Nemnich's art, it's a reverence and understanding of texture. "Texture is one of the things I like so much about printmaking," he says. "I make all my own prints, and though they're made from one source image, each one isn't merely a copy. So many variables can come into play like pressure, unplanned bleeding. Though I use a machine, the process is a very organic one. Each print is an original and can't be duplicated." He points out a recent creation -- a gathering of Klee-inspired ciphers and arabesques -- and indeed, almost magically, it imbues the eyes with tactile powers.

Nemnich's dizzying collection of versatile fabric designs includes myriad motifs rendered in recurring patterns: retro tiki, Polynesian, batik, and others born of cubism and naturalism, to name just a few. "There is a big call out there for hand-done work, and I love getting my hands dirty," he explains, "but computers are just amazing for fabric design. With continuous patterns like this -- when something absolutely has to fit between '0' and '1', computers are the only way to go."

I wonder how he feels about the advent of "painted" photos in which digitized "brush strokes" are layered over images for effect. "Cameras are for reproducing images," he responds. "That's what they're for. If you really want to capture the 'spirit' of a wave, for example, a photo can't quite give you the smells, the colors, or the living sensation that a painting can. I think it's interesting for some people, but it's just not me."

This strong sense of self keeps Nemnich firmly grounded amid the swirl of change and progression that's come to typify his current aesthetic. Though things change and evolve outwardly, the origin always remains tranquil and whole. "It's always the main image that draws me in," he confides. "Afterwards, I'll focus on the minor details. Right now, living here in this environment brings me a lot of inspiration. Especially the birds around here. I've been on a bird kick for the past year."

"I almost feel like I'm coming full circle," he adds. "This place has been part of everything I do."

You can reach Nemo at (321) 675-2250 to make arrangements to view his artwork or to commission commercial art projects. He'll also be appearing at the Melbourne Art Festival April 26th and 27th in historic downtown Melbourne.