Cloth imprints capture fish forms

It’s fish like you’ve never seen them. That’s because they’re flat and swim in place on silk or nylon or cotton.

The fish in this sea were caught by Annie Sessler of Montauk, using methods that don’t involve a hook or bait or yards of netting. She takes already-caught fish and captures their images through inking, pressing and preserving on fabric. Successful prints are set behind glass and elegantly framed.

By making fish prints, Ms. Sessler connects to a historic Japanese practice of inking and rubbing fish to record their dimensions and appearance before consuming them. The technique, called

gyotaku,

harks back to the 1800s. The simple craft was shown to her by her husband, Jim Goldberg, a commercial fisherman now turned surfboard maker, shortly after the couple married several years ago. It was the perfect collaboration—Mr. Goldberg caught the fish and Ms. Sessler tapped her artistic talents to make prints on cloth.

The extra layer of cooperation led to the creation of East End Fish Prints. Mr. Goldberg is wonderful with a fish and ink, Ms. Sessler said, but printing fish has become a passion of hers. It is Ms. Sessler’s work that has been showing up at outdoor arts and craft fairs for the last several years.

Ms. Sessler’s prints were part of last weekend’s outdoor art show in Sag Harbor. This weekend they will be shown at the 32nd annual American Crafts Festival in Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center. That show, like the Crafts on Columbus Show in Manhattan, is juried. She began exhibiting her fish prints two years ago at Crafts on Columbus after prompting by her brother, who lives nearby. When she contacted the fair, she was told they were fully booked, but after she described her work, space was found to squeeze her in anyway, Ms. Sessler recalled.

“It’s because my work was different,” she said. “They didn’t have anything like it in their show.”

That show eventually convinced her there were fish lovers in Manhattan. Her success prompted her to apply for the American Crafts Festival last year. She was accepted and now has two Manhattan shows in her steady roster.

Locally, her fish prints can be seen at St. Mark’s Church at the Fine Art & Craft Show on July 12 and Southampton Artists Association’s Art in the Park in Agawam Park on July 19 and 20. August brings shows in Springs (Fishermen’s Fair at Ashawagh Hall), Montauk (Art on the Green), Westhampton (Mary O. Fritche Outdoor Art Show) and Shelter Island (Chamber of Commerce Art Show & Craft Fair).

Ms. Sessler’s fish prints resonate strongly with fishermen and lovers of the sea. One reason is that the prints look like the fish. When printing them, she aims for realism—the scales and musculature are coaxed from real life onto material through the inking and rubbing process. The choice of the type of cloth to make the rubbing or print is made based on a desired effect. Grainy material like cotton can give a gritty look or accent the texture of the fish. Delicate material like silk or nylon brings a natural sheen to the print.

Mr. Goldberg examines the results afterward and gives advice on whether the fish looks real enough to have swum in the ocean or fresh water. If the print doesn’t feel real enough, it is discarded.

Another reason people enjoy them links directly to the purpose of

gyotaku

—fishermen enjoy having a print of a fish they actually caught. If a fish is brought to Ms. Sessler in relatively good condition, she can make a print. Afterward, the fish is fully eatable as the inks are non-toxic and wash right off after she’s done. Sometimes, more than one print can be made from a single fish. Each print is unique because each time requires repeating the entire process: new ink applied to the fish’s surface, fabric is selected, and a position is chosen.

Ms. Sessler strives to accentuate the unique characteristics that distinguish one fish from another. For instance, the jaws of a barracuda, the flamboyant fins of a rooster fish or the thick scales of a blue fish. She prefers to create black prints on white or colored fabric. But sometimes, the fish seems to cry out for color.

Using color seems to imbue the fish with shape. It also begins to push craft into art. Sometimes colors seem to swirl and suggest abstraction. Other times, color appears as if it had been applied with a paintbrush. In most cases, the mark of the artist’s hand is apparent.

If the craft more closely resembles art, that’s probably because Ms. Sessler is a trained artist. She studied art and design at Stanford University and took art classes at the New York Studio School.

“Art is about looking and what the person sees in the painting,” Ms. Sessler said. “It just so happens this is an identifiable object—it’s a fish. But the fish is only the beginning. What’s happening inside the shape is where the art is found, just like any art. With the prints, the shape is defined and recognizable.”

With every print she makes, Ms. Sessler learns something about the process, the inks and how they react to different types of fabric. Whether a successful print can be pulled, she’s happy receiving fish to print, the process, her connection with nature and the activity shared with her husband. Their 4-year-old daughter has already caught fish printing fever and sometimes makes her own prints.

The more Ms. Sessler prints fish, the more she wants to make. She loves every part of the process—whether it’s a new type of fish or one she’s printed before. She loves meeting people viewing her work, making sales and receiving feedback. She also loves the way her husband prepares the fish and eating the fish after a print has been made.

“There’s no part of the process I don’t love,” Ms. Sessler said. “I just love it all.”

Ms. Sessler’s prints can be viewed at eastendfishprint.com. For fish print portraits, she can be contacted via her website or by calling 668-5694.