Grand Martyr I Painting

Octopuses are fascinating animals. In Hawaiian mythology, they are the only survivors of a previous, alien universe. Indeed, their genome is unusually large, unlike that of other invertebrates – so much so that that it’s being called “alien” by the scientists who worked on it. They are highly intelligent, possibly more so than any other invertebrate. Yet, young octopuses learn almost nothing from their parents, who often die of reproduction: males can live for only a few months after mating, and females die shortly after their eggs hatch. They are the inspiration for my Martyr series.