Volker Pajatsch

Gyotaku - The art of fish printing 

Gyotaku (gee-yo-tah’-koo) which means fish rubbing is a Japanese art form dating from the mid 1800’s traditionally used by fishermen to record the details of their fish. Over the years the technique used in the elaborate preparation of the fish and the rubbing has become a fine art.

To produce this art form has been an exciting but steep learning curve for Volker, involving much trial and error to produce fish prints that are equal to the beauty of different specimens in the image of nature’s work. The fish, which are all local to the Brighton area, are giving their life to the art. These fish become special in that they will live on as a testimony to their existence in time and place.

The method used by Volker is called the direct Gyotaku method, whereby, following careful preparation of the freshly caught fish, he applies edible ink (sumi ink) onto its surface.  The fish is then covered with Japanese rice paper and carefully ‘rubbed’ to produce the initial image.  Following this, the artistic process of capturing the essence of each specimen in either a ‘realistic’ representation or in a more artistic interpretation begins. The resulting print becomes a unique piece of original artwork. In addition, Volker creates limited Gyclee Prints which intensify the colours and contrasts.

About the artist

Volker is a German born artist/animator and has been living in Brighton for the past eighteen years. As well as his interest in fine art, he worked for over 30 years in the animation industry on various films, TV productions and in the videogames industry.