Jero Revett

As a young grommet, I kept myself entertained in rock pools around False Bay. I would dive all day, playing with fish, sandsharks, starfish, urchins, and stick my fingers into anemones, but the creature that grabbed my full attention was the octopus. Attention initially out of fear, but once I learnt how to handle them, it was playtime!

 Today I’m still fascinated with the octopus and will disappear for hours getting lost in my childhood. People give me gas for eating octopus, but I take great pleasure in the hunt for them, a skill honed over many years. They are a wholesome food source; my policy is we eat from the sea what she offers us up on the day!  I don’t always win. I only take what I need and give back to the ocean what I don’t use. Nothing is wasted.

One day, during a dive, I heard God's whisper, “What else can you do with the ink?” instead of adding it to Risotto or making Pasta Nero. I started to think about using the ink to make images. I shared the idea of making prints using octopus ink with my mate, Prof Inggs, from Michaelis School of Fine Arts.  He was stoked with the idea and invited me to come play at Michaelis, which was an absolute blessing. We made screenprints using octopus ink, but the technique I fell in love with was the ancient form of printing called Gyotaku.

(Gyo = fish, taku = rubbing). The Japanese fisherman would record their catch by making an ink print on rice paper!  An idea sparked! Today I make Gyotaku artworks from the fish I catch, using the ink from the octopus / chokka / cuttlefish that I catch.