Gyotaku is a traditional Japanese style of fish printing. The word is the combination of gyo “fish” and taku “stone impression.” It dates back to the mid-1800s when fishermen used this method to record their catches. Today Kristin’s gyotaku prints provide fishermen with the same tangible records of the exact size of their fish while giving life and dimension to a piece of art.

Her method of gyotaku is to apply acrylic paint to the fish then press rice paper over the surface to receive the paint. She then paints in all the details to complete a black and white image, or continues with a variety of watercolors and colored pencils to create a more lifelike replication of the fish.

From Kristin: “I have an incredible amount of love and respect for all of the amazing creatures residing in our oceans and it is my honor to recreate and memorialize them in a traditional form. Practicing art ethically and sustainably is a priority for me, so I use non-toxic paint so that all the fish that I print are subsequently used for food or bait!”

All fish and octopus come from the Hawaiian Islands, the majority from Lānaʻi.