Full Biography
Liz van den Berg studied Fine Arts with a major in painting and art history at renowned institutions such as the Cape Technicon and Michaelis School of Art at the University of Cape Town and completed her BAFA(hon.) through Unisa in the late 80’s. During this time she also apprenticed in restoration with Wijn and Tjin Restoration in Cape Town specifically in mural restoration at various national monuments such as the Castle of Good Hope, Groot Constantia, Koopman de Wet’s and Boschendal. Restoration work also included the Anton Anreith pediment sculpture at Groot Constantia, De Kat balcony at the Castle of Good Hope, the Cape Town Town Hall and the Cape Town Cultural History Museum. She spent 3 years restoring the murals and decorative friezes at the Castle of Good Hope working closely with the national Monuments Council.
In the mid 90’s she started working as a freelance scenic artist in film and has worked all over the world in Mexico, Malaysia, Australia, Colombia and Southern and Eastern Africa on over 40 television series and feature films.
She now spends more time on her own work and specializes in Gyotaku, a traditional form of Japanese printmaking.
Liz has taken part in various group exhibitions in the western cape and for the last 8 years has been a member of the well-established and popular Baardskeerdersbos Art Route, which takes place twice a year, showcasing local artist’s work in their own homes and studios.
The Art of Traditional Japanese Fish Printing
(gyo- fish + taku- rubbing)
Dating from the mid-19th cent. this form of printing directly from nature was traditionally used by fishermen to record their catches immediately on the boats. Only rice paper and sumi ink was used and the print was made directly off the fish by inking its body. Each fisherman was able to then prove his quota of the catch by stamping the print with his personal chap or name identifying the print as his. This wad of fishprints would then ensure payment for his catch as well as provide the boat owners etc with a type of business record.
Since moving from a practical counting device to an artform, gyotaku had certain elements that are important to preserving the dignity and naturalness of the fish. Firstly only fresh whole and undamaged fish may be used with no obvious sign of harm or struggle. The fins and scales etc all intact. It is then positioned in a natural way with hidden threads to open the fins, mouth and tail, to display the fish in its most “alive” looking form.
The whole body is then inked with sumi ink which is ground on a stone from sumi sticks and provides a beautiful rich charcoal black. I however use ordinary ink for the fish that we eat. The eye of the fish is wiped clean prior to printing to allow a blank eye to print. The pupil is the only part of the print that may be “touched-up” afterwards with a small brush. Traditionally the fisherman or artist would then stamp their personal chap in red sumi ink, always behind the fish’s tail symbolizing its spirit unblocked passage to swim on eternally. Building on the traditional single fish, I have started exploring multiple prints using the same fish over and over sometimes not re-inking but allowing the image to become more and more faded, creating the sense of depth and contrast. I attempt to create the feeling of a shoal moving through the water constantly changing and fluid to allow for an atmosphere of tranquility and calm. I also use double layers of paper to achieve a similar effect of depth, something which can only really be achieved with paper. Each print is essentially a monoprint and differs to each one in a series. The shoals with the multiple prints are one of a kind and completely unique.
I have started using Japanese paper called “washi”paper, which is entirely made by hand using traditional methods. Families or villages will make a type of paper and become known as the area in particular for producing that type of washi. The inner bark of plants are used producing kozo, paper mulberry, gampi and mitsumata. These long fibres, when intertwined give these papers their great wet strength and flexibility. Many of them have 4 deckle edges due to each sheet being individually made and the smoothness of the paper which is unsized picks up the details of the fish’s body with precision and integrity. Recently I have used usu kuchi light, kitikata, gozen, mulberry and sekishu banshi tsuru. The red chap is derived from Greater Seal Script which predates Japanese and Chinese characters. The square one contains characters symbolizing fish, woman and mountain, a pun intended on the English translation of my surname….van den Berg, from the mountain. The oval chap is made up of characters symbolizing coming from Divinity. My chaps are not stamps as is traditional but hand drawn.