§ Symbology
What each symbol means.
The symbols I draw, explained in plain English and shown through my own designs. Under each name sits the original term, in case you want to know how it's really said.
12 symbols · 52 original drawings
Looking for the koru, the spiral the studio is named after? It has no entry here because I don't draw it on its own: it lives inside other pieces, holding the composition together. The full explanation is in this article (in Spanish).
01 ——
Turtle
Honu
Polynesia · especially Hawaii
The sea turtle is a guide and a protector at sea. Longevity, health, fertility and the way home.
+102 ——
Tiki
Tiki
Polynesia · strongly present in the Marquesas
The first man and, by extension, the ancestor who protects. A frontal face with big eyes and bared teeth.
03 ——
Shark teeth
Niho manō
Polynesia at large · the backbone of Samoan tattooing
Bands of triangles standing in for a shark's jaw. Protection and ferocity, and also the ability to adapt.
04 ——
Manta ray
Hihimanu
Polynesia · Hawaii and Tahiti
The ray moves without effort and without noise. Freedom, grace, and a kind of protection that doesn't need to be shown.
05 ——
Whale tail
Tohorā
Māori · Aotearoa
The whale is guardian and guide on the crossing. Its tail concentrates strength, protection and family ties.
06 ——
Hammerhead shark
Manō kihikihi
Polynesia · Hawaii
The shark guards the sea. The hammer adds peripheral vision: seeing things coming before anyone else.
07 ——
Fish
Iʻa
Polynesia at large
The fish is the food that comes from the sea. Abundance, sustenance, and the prosperity you work for every day.
+208 ——
Fish scales
Unahi
Polynesia at large
Armour that protects without taking away movement. Resilience that adapts instead of resisting.
09 ——
Ocean
Moana
Polynesia at large
The sea isn't scenery: it's the road, the larder and the origin. Life, movement, the way between islands.
10 ——
Bird
Manu
Polynesia at large · Rapa Nui
The one who crosses between this world and the one above. Freedom, news, and sometimes the ancestor returning.
+311 ——
Sun
Rā
Polynesia · Marquesas and Aotearoa
The motif that usually holds the centre of a composition. Leadership, vital energy, and what doesn't run out.
+512 ——
Borneo rose
Bunga terung
Iban · Borneo (not Polynesian)
The aubergine flower of the Iban of Borneo. It marks the moment of leaving home and standing on your own.
+2
No symbol means the same thing on every island.
This guide is written from the craft and from reading, not from an authority that isn't mine to claim. Where a motif belongs to a specific tradition, it says so. And where something isn't Polynesian at all —like the Borneo rose— it says that too.
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