“Atavistic Aesthetics and Aetheric Aspirations”
First off give me a little bio of yourself, name, age, where you came from, how you got into art, if you have art degrees, if so where you got them etc.
I came to art in a very strange way. I had gotten turned onto Japanese Anime at a young age back when it was all black market VHS transfers – and that got me deeply interested in Japanese culture. Soon enough I was studying Japanese as a hobby and got a scholarship to go there for a visit during the “trade war” era. While I was doodling at the time, I didn’t think that there was no future in that and that it would be better for everyone if I focused on academics and international politics… So I ended up going to Oberlin College and triple majoring in Politics, Religion and East Asian Studies – to learn to become an international negotiator…. although, while at Oberlin, I created a satirical comic strip that ran for most of my time there (“Life on the Front”) and channeled my artistic impulses into making a very trippy living space or strange hand made gifts for my girlfriends.
Later when I started working for a while in DC and had plenty of interesting experiences – but it left me with the deep sense that the town and lifestyle was not for me. I left DC, jaded but with priceless experiences & I moved to Boulder, CO to relax and find a new direction. A visionary experience there set me on the path of art – and a chance meeting with painter Alex Grey and comic book creator Jim Woodring set me on the path to reintegrate my earlier dream of diplomacy with my aesthetic loves.
I just turned 34 last month and was born in Miami, FL – and I have been working in this strange art realm for the past 10 years now.
My name, Nemo, is from Latin meaning “No One” and Boko is a Haitian Vodoun word for sorcerer that means “he who uses both hands”, meaning both light and dark magicks, although it works quite well for ambidextrous art…
How does art come to you? Dreams, visions etc?
When I first began to make art, it was all stream of consciousness – - it was all just pouring out of my head and through my hands and onto paper- –
But in early 2000, about 6 months after starting to make art, my mother was diagnosed with terminal leukemia and I became her caretaker. In that time, I started deeply studying the history of “functional art” – ritual arts created by ancient and tribal people for specific purposes, such as healing, protection, luck, etc.
This then brought me to where I am today – - working to integrate ideas of magick, myth and ritual into my art for personal empowerment – - and for sharing these ideas with others.
What kind of materials do you use?
I will work with anything available… I have made art in all different forms and love to be challenged… although I find myself most frequently using acrylic paint – with its quick drying time – and for graphic design purposes, I love Photoshop for the ability to infinitely edit anything.
Where do you see your art going?
I would really love to do more performance paintings, which is another avenue for experimentation… I have created a unique system of “arm palates” to paint ambidextrously in public and have done this around the US and Japan – - and now add into this a 3-D aspect by using cut outs stacked on wooden canvases to go beyond the square frame.
I would love to push the envelope with performance painting and see how many pieces I could paint in 24 hours, especially if it were tied into a socially relevant cause – -
I love making magickal commissions for people that involve their personal empowerment. I really enjoyed working with my friend, the talented actress/model/raw foods advocate Tony Kay (http://www.tonyakay.com/), who described our working here. (http://www.rendingtheveil.com/chaos-magick-iconography/) Essentially, the paintings can be used as a reminder to the conscious and unconscious mind to empower one’s spirit & focus on achieving your goals.
I also do a lot of unusual graphic design projects, especially in the ethnobotanical field… I expect see more of those in the future as well…
Who inspires you?
My chief inspiration is exploring the creations of ancient and tribal peoples – and I have built up quite a library to keep these inspirations close at hand… but a lot of this is just to keep some perspective on my own inner visions and broader context of transformative art.
I have been inspired by way too many modern eastern and western artists to name, but Keith Harring (beautiful creative flow), Mati Klarwein (masterful technique) and Pablo Picasso (artist as modern shaman) are certainly among them. I consider Alex Grey and Jim Woodring to be the “midwives” to my creative birth as their presence was crucial to my following this path.
What is your favorite expression of art & which gives you the most freedom? digital, drawings, painting, sculptures etc?
I really love performance painting for the challenge of creating art in the moment with an audience and collaborating with a band – - it is a great rush to be in the flow out there!
With that said, I really feel very flexible as an artist and really enjoy working in unusual contexts… Adding challenges, like working ambidextrously, definitely keeps most fear and doubt out of your mind so there is just room for pure creative impulses.
Who has the originals of your artwork? Do you plan on keeping these or are they up for sale as well with your prints?
I have sold many originals over the years, although I also hold a great number with myself as well. I don’t have all the originals listed for sale on my site, as that hasn’t been as big of a focus as prints – - really because I have wanted to cast a very broad net and keep my art affordable to anyone who wanted it… but I have sold originals across the US, UK, Japan and Europe. I am deeply grateful for the support of my patrons.
In many cases, pieces have a very special personal meaning for me – so in those cases, when someone is very enthusiastic for that piece – I try to negotiate a commission that is similarly themed, but made especially for that individual.
Here is my Facebook Fan Page and then the easiest way to find my work online is www.nemo.org – although this is just a direct link to my section on R6XX.com. It can also be seen over at Metagnosis.net