Martin Herbert : Totem Animals : How Turtle Knows which Way to Go

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Totem Animal Series : "How Turtle Knows which Way to Go" : Digital Painting, 32" x 23" (813 x 584 mm) : 2003

Totem Animals : How Turtle Knows which Way to Go

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One of a series of works depicting 'totem animals' and their relationship with the external and internal landscape. These paintings are not drawn from one particular tradition - they incorporate elements of Celtic, Native American, Australian Aboriginal and other belief systems which have as a linking factor the close relationship between man and the natural environment.

For some American Indian tribes the turtle's shell symbolised Mother Earth - its shell, protecting the vulnerable living creature, represented the relationship between Man and the Land. The turtle symbolises fertility and longevity and, being a creature of the Sea, it also reminds us of the feminine qualities of Water.