Kayla Green, Taste Magazine: What is gyotaku, and what has been your exploration into it so far?

Brody Olive, Voyagers: It kind of goes back to how we recorded things thousands of years ago. Fishermen used to document their catch in the exact sizes, like a captain keeping their logs. They obviously didn’t have cameras back then, so it’s this traditional form of Japanese art that dates back to the 1800s. “Gyo” means fish, and “taku” means rubbing. It’s done on rice paper that’s pressed onto a fish that has been painted. It’s a non-toxic ink called “sumi,” so you can make these prints, and it doesn’t waste the meat, and the fish doesn’t die in vain for an art piece.

It’s real finicky on the moisture level and how much paint you’re applying, so there’s a lot of dabbing and blotting before I do the pressing. I brought a canvas with me on this last trip, which I’d never done. It’s a little more graceful for the novice user because it won’t tear as easily. You can drop a fish on it and it won’t rip through.

Taste: How did you learn about this art form, and why does it interest you?

BO: It was around two years ago. Through Perdido Beach Resort, I talked to my boss at the time about letting us enroll in Orange Beach High School’s fishing tournament, which is a charity event fundraiser for the school. I had a student working with me, Joseph Brown, he was a senior, and he loves fishing. Our boat took first place in the junior category on redfish, and it won first in redfish for the adults, too. We had an award ceremony, and Ryan Long, who helped organize the tournament, said part of what you get for winning is this kit to make this art. We want you to do a fish print with it, and we’ll frame it and that’ll be next year’s trophy.

I had been aware of the type of art, and I’ve always loved pencil drawings, the intricacy in them, how it captures the details of the scales and everything. I completely destroyed my first piece. So, from the kitchen, I started practicing with parchment paper instead of the rice paper.

Taste: What intrigues you about it? Do you find similarities with or that it’s totally different from cooking?

BO: It definitely has a structure to it. There’re boundaries for how much ink you can put on the fish, what the paper will tolerate. The little nuances of the whole process. Every time I do one, it raises another question about the print. It’s like building a dish and all its complexities. There’s a baseline, then you keep adding to it and layering on other aspects, and then it finally comes together. And I’m just curious about things. So, I think there’s just so much more for me to learn with it. I’ve just started getting into doing color and playing with different color palettes. It’s really detailed work to get the lips just right, arranging it so it transfers to the paper well. And it feels good to know I’m going to wash it off and eat this nice fish after. I’ve been painting them for different family members so far, and it’s nice because we can share this meal that it came from. There’s more depth to the memory then just, “I caught this big fish and it’s on my wall.” I like getting into that space of focusing and everything else kind of goes away. I’ll have “aha!” moments about something in the restaurant I’ve been working through. My brain shrinks down to just that realm.

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