artists
every piece has a story, and every story begins with an artist
RURAL WAIRARAPA, NEW ZEALAND · CONTEMPORARY PRINTMAKER
Jo Lysaght
Jo Lysaght is a contemporary printmaker working primarily in linocut and woodcut. Inspired by nature and conservation, she creates richly layered, limited-edition prints through a slow and methodical process of carving, inking, proofing and printing each image by hand.
about
Jo Lysaght is a part-time artist with a full-time passion for printmaking.
Living in rural Wairarapa, Jo began printmaking in 2016 and was immediately drawn to its tactile, hands-on nature. Each original work begins as an idea before being transferred to a matrix and carved by hand. The block is then carefully inked and passed through her small home etching press—often many times—as colour, texture and form are built layer by layer.
For works containing multiple colours, Jo may carve and align several individual printing blocks or use the reduction method, progressively cutting away a single block after each colour has been printed. It is a process that demands patience and precision, as every stage affects what follows and nothing can be rushed.
Even with careful planning, printmaking holds an element of unpredictability. Proofing reveals unexpected marks, textures and relationships, and the final image does not always behave as anticipated. It is this balance between control and surprise that continues to draw Jo back to the medium.
Nature and conservation sit at the heart of her practice. Through native birds, landscapes and environmental imagery, Jo reflects on the beauty and vulnerability of the natural world, as well as the consequences of decisions driven by human profit and vanity.
Most of Jo’s works are produced in limited editions of fewer than 20 handmade prints. Each carries the subtle variations created through individual inking and pressing—evidence of the artist’s hand and the physical process behind its making.
Jo received the Emerging Talent Award at the 2021 Aratoi Regional Review and the Landscape Award at the 2023 Aratoi Regional Review for her woodcut Gabrielle’s Chaos. Her work has also been selected for the Wellington Regional Review in 2022 and 2024, the Ironbridge UK Printmakers Competition in 2025 and the Aratoi Regional Review in 2025.
For Jo, printmaking creates a reason to slow down—to remain present through every carved line, layer of ink and turn of the press.
And within every edition, there is always the possibility of something unexpected being revealed.
HollyBush-Jo Lysaght
A vibrant celebration of native birds, abundant foliage and the places in which we feel we belong.
This Is Home by Jo Lysaght is an original reduction linocut filled with movement, colour and a strong connection to the natural world. Two stylised birds sit among sweeping leaves and delicate seed forms, surrounded by layered shades of green, turquoise, ochre and soft pink.
Created using the reduction linocut process, the image is built gradually from a single hand-carved block. Each colour requires another stage of carving, careful inking and a separate pass through the press, making the process both exacting and irreversible.
The overlapping shapes and confident silhouettes give the work a lively, contemporary quality while retaining the distinctive textures of traditional printmaking. Its title speaks to belonging—not only to a physical place, but to the landscape, wildlife and natural rhythms that make somewhere feel like home.
Vibrant. Joyful. Connected.
Original reduction linocut Limited edition of 11, 2026 Image Dimensions 30 × 30 cm Framed Dimensions 43 × 43 cm Framed in white
FRAMED room-setting image is an example of presentation, scale and styling only.