southseaeyes, southseaeyes printmaker, printmaking, linoprint,

About me

Hi, I’m Nusye. I am SouthSeaEyes.

I’m a self-taught lino cut artist based in Southsea, Hampshire. My printmaking is local; I teach at private workshops and publicly with local audiences through printmaking workshops events across Southsea. I was a member of the Omega Printmakers and Makers Guild up to Nov 2023.

I have been carving lino blocks since 2004, and in earnest since the pandemic lockdowns. I find using lino block as a relief printing method incredibly versatile. The manner and techniques applied in carving the lino blocks allows the creation of finely-detailed images. The inking of the block itself then allows varying tonal quality through the degrees of pressure applied on the block whilst inking.

Grown in East Anglia, I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia and my heritage is from the island of Java, where the deep history of animism and mysticism are profoundly intertwined into the culture and traditional art forms such as printmaking, wood carving, and batik.

I have a BA Hons from University of Portsmouth and an MSc. from UCD Smurfit, and CIMA qualified. I was an industry Business Analyst in a multinational corporation before I left the corporate world to pursue my current work within the creative industry.

Shop my range of original lino prints; from the mundane to the cryptic, and a small selection of greeting cards based on my lino prints via instagram or in-person Printmaking Workshop – or trade stalls, of which I do a selection throughout the year. Instagram is a good place to find out when my next in-person trade stall will be.

History of my work

I am particularly interested in researching the history of ancient civilisations, Hellenistic and Egyptian, and of the ancestors of Java and Bali and their inner traditions, which they would express through their artwork, dancing movements, and other forms of creation. The people were deeply intertwined with working in harmony with the land.

Some designs produced through the traditional Javanese workings were considered to be sacred and restricted from being shown outside the immediate family. I find it fascinating how these techniques have been passed down through generations. This cultural heritage inspires me to continue working with printmaking, particularly lino block carving, and exploring ancient mythologies and reflecting on them in modern times. Consequently, a lot of my work is figurative with elements of storytelling.