Traditional Japanese Gyotaku Fish Printing
FINE ART AND CUSTOM PRINTS by Cody Wise Hagen
Welcome
The concept behind my work is to blend the traditional Japanese printing technique with the endemic and migratory Salmonoids and other fish species that I believe capture the culture and spirit
of the Olympic Peninsula. My goal is to create work that transports the viewer to the unique environment of my home.
About Olympic Gyotaku
The simplistic yet bold contrast of the sumi ink on the mulberry paper and the over 150-year-old Japanese tradition of catching, printing, and preparing each fish for a meal speaks to me. I feel that the art of Gyotaku effortlessly captures the unique landscape we live in in Port Angeles. I've been studying and talking to Gyotaku masters, asking them questions about their craft, and exploring the art form while progressing my own unique style.
Custom Frish Printing
Custom Gyotaku Fish prints are a great way to remember your catch and add art to your home. Contact me to set up the logistics of printing your fish, while keeping it cool and edible.
Background
I grew up in a home that straddles the foot hills of the Olympic National Park and the Elwha River watershed. Growing up in Port Angeles, WA, my connection to the wilderness and belief that preserving our wild places is critical. I have worn many different hats of responsibility ranging from trail crew in the Frank Church Wilderness, Commercial Salmon fishing in Alaska, Kauai Forest bird Recovery Project gathering data on endangered forest birds, sailing Catamaran whale watching tours off the Na Pali coast and crew lead EPMT at Olympic National Park Service. Lastly sailing as Mate for a tugboat company that moves cargo up and down the coast. I'm currently working at the PNNL Dept. of Energy, pursuing a degree in Emergency Management and expanding my art business.
My Mission Statement
I want to help people understand what's going on with climate science and how it relates to everyone globally. Living on the Olympic Peninsula we are a bellwether for climate change. I believe helping create awareness through education on how specifically our forests, rivers, oceans and salmon will be affected is so important.
Human dependence on burning fossil fuels as a source of energy has undisputedly created a detrimental effect on our terrestrial landscape and global oceans. The output of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere directly contributes to climate change.(Meeting the Challenge of Climate Change: A Makah Tribal Leader Seeks Solutions to an Ocean Out of Balance. (n.d.). 2022) A quarter of all released carbon dioxide is absorbed into the ocean, resulting in a chemical process called ocean acidification, which creates a harmful environment for marine life. This problem is exacerbated by marine heatwaves that create hypoxic (low oxygen) marine conditions. These new environmental factors are contributing directly to the loss of key species that form the base of the marine food web. Ocean acidification affects calcifying species (the animals that make calcium carbonate shells) which are particularly vulnerable in acidic environments that readily break down calcium. Acidification also causes indirect losses to the finfish industry for commercial profit, specifically through loss of primary food sources. From the microbial building blocks of the ocean like phytoplankton to the macro keystone species such as salmon, sea otters, seals and whales—the anthropogenic effects on marine life are undeniable. This means that human dependence on fossil fuel not only impacts marine life but is detriment to human economic stability as well (Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2021).