Artist: Deep Hawaii Art
Title: "Bowe's Mū" (Bigeye Emperor Fish) Gyotaku
Medium: Custom Reproduction piece embellished with Prismacolors on rice paper (or on fine art paper)
Size: 20" x 24" (paper size), unframed.
Lāna`i artist Kristin Belew painstakingly embellished this life-size reproduction of her Gyotaku print with Prismacolors.
Gyotaku is a traditional Japanese style of fish printing where each original piece of art is taken right from the fish. Kristin applies acrylic paint to the actual fish then presses rice paper onto the specimen to receive the paint. She then adds in details! Each fish is eaten or used for bait afterwards.
Fun facts from Kristin:
"This Bigeye Emperor fish (Monotaxis grandoculis) known as a Mū in Hawaiian was a commissioned piece created for my friend and coworker Bowe. Bowe was able to shoot this Mū with only Hawaiian sling spear, known locally as a three prong! The Hawaiian word Mū has a few different translations or definitions- One is the name for destructive insects that eat cloth and wood. Mū is also a name for a public executioner who put taboo breakers to death and offered victims for sacrifice. These fish feed on invertebrates such as crabs and mollusks that live in the sand or rubble. They crunch on their prey with molar teeth that actually resemble human molars. It is usually very hard to get close to a Mū, they tend to hover motionless, yet always keep a big distance between themselves and divers."
Category: Deep Hawaii Art