Louise Nott, Unconditional Love (ANIMAL 2022)

After mating, the female gloomy octopus (Octopus tetricus) finds a suitable den to lay her fertilised eggs, usually tucking herself into a crevice. She carefully braids the eggs into ribbons, or festoons, and delicately attaches them to the surface of the den. The festoons hang over the watchful eye of the mother who spends the rest of her life meticulously caring for her young. As the eggs develop the chromatophores begin to become visible, and the festoons begin to look like sparkling strings of lights.

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