MAHI TAHI embodies collaboration, cooperativeness, shared responsibility, and unity. The Gisborne Printmakers are a working collective who hand press prints celebrating the range of printmaking processes they use to express their art.
From the time Penny Ormerod taught a course on zinc etching in 1976, and said “We can’t stop now”, there has been a continuous group of printmakers in Lysnar House Studios. Prints in this Mahi Tahi exhibition were created by the current 20 members. Also included are guest printmakers Carole Shepheard and Lynn Taylor, who have travelled to Gisborne on many occasions to run workshops building skills in our region.
Foundation members Jean Johnston, the late Norman Maclean and the late Phyllis Underdown, all High School art teachers in 1976, have been integral in maintaining a strong cohesiveness amongst the members over the last 50 years. A recent legacy in memory of the late Penny Ormerod has enabled the group to import a new state of the art etching press providing a solid base for a strong future.
In the spirit of Mahi Tahi, this celebration exhibition has encouraged members to meet regularly, always with a pot of tea- to share printmaking techniques, ideas, and processes, as well as learn from each other.
