Turtle Island (14/40)
by Mayumi Oda
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- robynbuntin
Description
Turtle Island — the indigenous North American name for the North American continent, derived from creation stories in which the land rests on the back of a great turtle that emerged from the primordial waters. Mayumi Oda's engagement with this mythological geography connects her Japanese feminist Buddhist printmaking with indigenous North American cosmology, finding in both traditions a vision of the earth as a living being with its own rights and its own sacred character. The turtle, which also appears in her Heart Sutra compositions as an emblem of ancient time and ecological patience, here becomes the literal foundation of the continent — the earth as turtle, the continent as island of life in the ocean of time.
More Prints by Mayumi Oda
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Turtle Island (14/40) was created by Mayumi Oda (小田真由美).
Turtle Island (14/40) depicts landscapes and animals.