About Me

About me

Hi, I’m Nusye. I am SouthSeaEyes.

My lino blocks carry forward an ancestral lineage of persistence – of creative sovereignty. Each line carved claims its own space, continuing traditions that survive because generations before me would not let them die.

I’m Nusye, a printmaker and former finance business analyst who swapped spreadsheets for carving tools. My journey into linocut printing was about creating – and it was also about returning to wroughting: making something real, something made by hand. It was about stepping away from a career that valued bottomline over people, numbers over humanity, and both returning to craftsmanship and reclaiming the power of making something that lasts.

I’m a self-taught linocut artist based in Southsea, Hampshire. Grown in East Anglia with West Javan heritage. My work carries the weight of ancestral craftsmanship, mythology, and survival. Javanese culture pulses with storytelling, animism, encoded symbols, mysticism, and resistance woven into art — a lineage of peaceful makers who carved intentions into existence, through batik, woodcuts, or temple reliefs. These traditions are not passive relics; they are acts of defiance against erasure, against impermanence, against being silenced. I carve to continue this lineage.

To me, Printmaking became a means of independence: an act of endurance and persistence. This goes against fleeting trends, and against the idea that we are disposable after leaving a structured career. This is about grounding, about craftsmanship, and finding relevance not in what we once were, but in what we choose to become.

I carve, ink, and (hand)press stories into existence—stories of resilience, transformation, and survival. Each print is a mark of what hands can create when mind is calm, and heart is soft. My technical approach exploits lino’s versatility completely: intricate carving techniques yield finely-detailed imagery, while varied inking pressure creates subtle tonal gradations that adds life into each impression.

Since 2004, and with deepened focus through pandemic lockdowns, I pursued mastery in relief printing methods. My practice extends beyond the studio – I teach through private workshops and public events across the South Coast, sharing this knowledge as continuation of craft lineage. I was a member of the Omega Printmakers and Makers Guild until November 2023, and continue learning through courses with skilled printmaking artists.

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.

In May 2025, I completed my first solo exhibition. Eight days later, my husband, my light, my world, passed away. Everything- everything – screeched to a halt except the essential: sitting with grief, walking with its gravity, discovering what I can do each day, each hour. This is the paused moment for allowing grieving. The carving tools wait. The inks, the press, the stories – all wait. For now, I must learn this new landscape of deep loss.

SouthSeaEyes is an independent printmaking, writing, and workshop practice exploring image, material process, grief, myth, and artist sustainability. Workshops offer creative skill-building and reflective space; they are not therapy, counselling, or clinical intervention.

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. These techniques have been passed down through generations. This cultural heritage inspires me to continue printmaking, with linoleum and block carving, whilst exploring ancient mythologies and reflecting on them in modern times. Consequently, a lot of my work is figurative with elements of storytelling.

The Mission

This is not just about making hand-made, hand-wrought art forms. This is also proof that you can rebuild, remake, and reimagine yourself over and over again.

To demonstrate that returning to craft is not regression – but instead, a reclamation.

To create work that carries weight, slow-build, meaningful, and presence, in a world that is instant-scrolling – and forgets too quickly.

To show that there is life after corporate — and my goodness, it is a full one.

If you’re drawn to the idea of owning a print, learning the craft, or carving out your own creative resurgence, then start here.

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