The People
Robert B. Chenoweth, Founder
Instructor, Speaker, Consultant & Dealer
Robert is a Gyotaku instructor at the Japanese Culture Center in Chicago, IL, where he is dedicated to teaching and promoting the traditional Japanese art of fish printing. As a keynote speaker, he shares his expertise on both Gyotaku and the global art market. In addition to his work as an educator and speaker, Robert is an avid art collector and dealer with a passion for connecting people to unique and meaningful works.
He also blended his passion for gyotaku with his experience as an angler to create PaperFin — a modern inkless and mess-free approach to fish printing. The PaperFin Inkless Fish Printing Kits are designed to make gyotaku more accessible by eliminating the hassles that come with using ink.
Contact: Robert@thegyotaku.com
Jacelyn Rene, Creative Director
Artist, Experience Curator, Consultant & Dealer
Jacelyn is a watercolor and gyotaku artist whose perspective is deeply shaped by years of freediving, spearfishing, and life along Florida’s Gulf Coast and the Florida Keys, giving her work an intimate connection to the sea. Jacelyn collaborates with collectors, chefs, and cultural partners to bring ocean-inspired art into new contexts, bridging fine art with immersive dining and lifestyle experiences. As Experience Curator for The Imprint Experience, she merges her artistic background with curatorial vision and event production, creating spaces where Gyotaku, cuisine, and culture converge in unforgettable ways.
Contact: Jacelyn@thegyotaku.com
Dwight Hwang, Featured Artist
Mission Viejo, CA
Gyotaku, a traditional Japanese art form rooted in the samurai era, began as a way to document fish using sumi ink and paper. Artists like Dwight Hwang have since refined the technique into a modern art style known as Wa-Modan—a fusion of classical Japanese aesthetics and contemporary design. Hwang’s work, prized by art collectors, Michelin-star chefs, and luxury brands like the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton, brings movement, emotion, and storytelling into each piece, redefining gyotaku for today’s high-end interiors.
Elena Di Capita, Featured Artist
Lavagna, Italy
Born in Chiavari (Genoa) in 1985, Elena Di Capita’s artistic journey took root in her hometown, where she initially studied art. In 2007 she specialized in Art Restoration and in 2014 she graduated in Archaeological Heritage. For some time she worked as a art restorer in Italy, France and Yemen, and in archaeological missions in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Her passion for painting, in particular for Japanese art, led her in 2018 to experiment with gyotaku, the art of printing fish, a technique born in Japan two centuries ago, which "transfers reality onto paper". Her works are very successful, she is the first in Italy to specialize in this art and in 2019 she opens her own studio in Lavagna, fully dedicating herself to her artistic career. She also collaborates abroad to spread gyotaku culture, particularly in Turkey and Tanzania. In 2023 she goes to Japan to learn the takuseikai technique from master Matsunaga and also delves into the taku-hon technique.