Gyotaku Fish Prints Are A Popular Art Form In Hawaii

Gyotaku is a unique form of printing that uses freshly caught fish, plants and other aquatic life, to create realistic imprints on cloth or paper. It originated in Asia during the 1800's as a methodical way to document a fishermen's prized catch. In Hawaii gyotaku artists still use this artistic printing method to recreate life-like renditions of life under the ocean. The "subjects" are recorded for posterity, then ready to eat, as gyotaku uses non-toxic inks and paints.

Hawaii has become a creative hot spot for gyotaku, finding a niche in prints of fish that are native to the archipelago. Because of Hawaii's rare isolation, approximately 30% of fish are unique to the island chain. These native fish prints stand out as distinctly Hawaiian Gyotaku, making the islands an ideal place to find one-of-a-kind prints.

In Japanese Gyo=Fish, and Taku=Imprint. Traditionally gyotaku was created using rice paper and carbon-based sumi ink. Today most gyotaku is printed on a variety of paper and cloth materials, and artists often substitute the sumi ink for non-toxic acrylic paints. Artists may also incorporate color pencil, paints or pastels in order to create colorful renditions of the original species. Collage art, or the layering of papers and cut-outs, is a modernized approach to gyotaku that is being refined by a few Hawaii gyotaku artists. The collage work creates multi-layered coloring and textures, and highlights the beauty of the papers as much as the gyotaku "subject"

Fishing is, and has been a daily way of life for the peoples of Hawaii for time out of mind, and today Hawaii is world renowned as a fishermen's paradise. When a fishermen catches a large, rare or record breaking fish, he will very often have it gyotaku printed before eating or selling it.

Octopus (or He'e) is a very popular gyotaku subject in Hawaii, as are some common fish such as the ahi (yellowfin tuna), mahi mahi (dolphinfish), ono (wahoo), ulua (giant trevally), onaga (red snapper), opakapaka (pink snapper), and an abundance of other colorful reef species. Tropical Hawaiian flowers and bamboo are another form of gyotaku printing that is unique to the islands.

Gyotaku captures the imagination with it's realistic depiction of life in the deep sea. As the art continues to expand its horizons, each new location offers up a variety of different species for the canvas. The flora and fauna of the Hawaiian islands is incomparable to any place on earth, and as a result it offers up it's own "Hawaiian style" interpretation of gyotaku.