STUDIO SPOTLIGHT

Artist Lisa Lee documents fish through traditional gyotaku

Stories told by humans of wildlife and the natural surroundings go back thousands of years. People viewing tribal art, for example, see representations of nature.

What about that big herd of animals humans hunted over centuries? Well, there are plenty of drawings and paintings depicting the hunt. After all, people love to show what they caught while hunting or fishing. It’s in our nature.

It’s easy to say you saw something or caught something now, with cameras on our phones. But before technology, things were very different. You caught a really big fish that was so amazing and cool? Don’t believe me? Another tall tale? Here is this rubbing of the fish to prove it to you.

You might have gone to an art show or gallery and seen large fish impressions. If they look a little different from traditional art, that is because they are. They are called gyotaku. It is a traditional Japanese method for printing a fish. Some of the earliest examples date back to the mid-1800s. The earliest known gyotaku dates from 1857, and features a carp caught in the Mogami River.

The word gyotaku is a compound word: gyo, which means fish, and taku, which means stone impression. While the word is exotic, it clearly describes what it is. Gyotaku was originally a way for fishermen to record their catches.

How did this Japanese art become so prevalent in the United States? Two main reasons. The first was an exhibition in 1956 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The exhibition was called “Gyotaku: the Impression of a Fish.” The second is a book by Yoshio Hiyama called “Gyotaku: The Art and Technique of Fish Print.” While the exhibition introduced America to this Japanese art of printing fish, the book taught about the mechanics of gyotaku. Since then, gyotaku has grown in many creative ways, becoming an art form of its own.

In the Florida Keys, we are known for our fishing. It is no wonder we couldn’t escape the allure of the beautiful Japanese art of gyotaku. Islamorada is home to a professional gyotaku artist, Lisa Lee. She is a professional mem-

Top: ber of the Gyotaku Art of Europe and the Nature Printing Society. Lee has been featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Only in the Florida Keys” and PBS’s “Art Loft.” I was lucky to catch up with her and talk to her about her gyotaku process.

Here is Lisa’s process in her own words: “In traditional gyotaku, they would apply inks to one side of the freshly caught fish, cover it with kozo paper and rub the papers to create an impression of the fish. I like to stick to this original method as closely as possible. I use a non-toxic ink so when I’m done with the printing process the fish is still perfectly fine to filet up for dinner so nothing goes to waste. All of my papers are imported from a small papery in Japan so each roll may be slightly different.”

She added, “Once I’m finished printing the freshly caught fish, I take the prints back to my gallery to properly trim the edges of the paper and then embellish them with as much or as little color as I see fit. Traditional gyotaku, only the eye was embellished leaving the print as is. I love this aesthetic; however, having been a professional marine artist for about 15 years, I enjoy adding back the fish’s full color, bringing it back to life. Detailing the eyes of any fish is a meticulous process, but I find it to be one of the most important finishing details. Once I’m finished with the piece I have them professionally photographed and archived as well as professionally framed.”

The art of gyotaku has come a long way from Japan to here in the Keys. What started as a way to document a fish you caught transformed into an art form in itself. I often wonder what is next for this art form.