--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Look at it this way - a totem pole is…" description: "\"Look at it this way - a totem pole is just a decorated tree. My work is a confessional.\" — Louise Bourgeois" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/louise-bourgeois-8996_flower_look-at-it-this-way-a-totem-pole-is-just_2897797.png" --- # Look at it this way - a totem pole is just a decorated… ![“Look at it this way - a totem pole is just a decorated tree. My work is a confessional.” quote by Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/louise-bourgeois-8996_flower_look-at-it-this-way-a-totem-pole-is-just_2897797.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/louise-bourgeois-8996_flower_look-at-it-this-way-a-totem-pole-is-just_2897797.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/louise-bourgeois-8996_flower_look-at-it-this-way-a-totem-pole-is-just_2897797.png) > “Look at it this way - a totem pole is just a decorated tree. My work is a confessional.” [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A totem pole is essentially a tree turned into art, and her work reveals personal truths. **In simple terms:** Art transforms objects and reveals inner life. Key Takeaway Embrace personal honesty in creative work. Themes art self‑expression identity Mood reflective introspective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - gallery installations - personal projects - public sculptures Key Concepts symbolism confessional art Questions to Reflect On - How does material shape meaning? - What does confession achieve in art? A Different Perspective Art may be misunderstood without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Decorated Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decorated-tree-4105482/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just/) [Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Pole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pole/) [Totem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/totem/) [Totem Pole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/totem-pole-2768787/) [Totems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/totems/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Tree Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree-work-1979018/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Way Totem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-totem-4105481/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [I was a sharecropper's son. That's as low as you can get on the totem pole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-needham/i-was-a-sharecropper-s-son-that-s-as-low-as-you-can-get-on-the-totem/) [Hal Needham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-needham/) > [ “Then there's the pillar statue in the semi-subterranean temple at Tiahuanaco \[Bolivia\]. Like the Totem Pole of Göbekli Tepe, it is anthropomorphic. Like the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-hancock/then-there-s-the-pillar-statue-in-the-semi-subterranean-temple-at/) [Graham Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-hancock/) > [With studio work, I'm always the bottom man on the totem pole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lindsay-abaire/with-studio-work-i-m-always-the-bottom-man-on-the-totem-pole/) [David Lindsay-Abaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lindsay-abaire/) > [Now defined as art, the totem has lost cult, taboo, and custom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/now-defined-as-art-the-totem-has-lost-cult-taboo-and-custom/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“It was rather peculiar behaviour for a totem animal. Totem animals are supposed to be the spirits of actual dead animals or the essence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-frost/it-was-rather-peculiar-behaviour-for-a-totem-animal-totem-animals-are/) [Michelle Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-frost/) > [“Over the last year I’ve noticed that a surprising amount of Americans hate one or the other. I have a theory: solar panels and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-heaton/over-the-last-year-i-ve-noticed-that-a-surprising-amount-of-americans/) [Andrew Heaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-heaton/) > [You must be absolutely honest and true in the depicting of a totem for meaning is attached to every line. You must be most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-carr/you-must-be-absolutely-honest-and-true-in-the-depicting-of-a-totem/) [Emily Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-carr/) > [What is a totem? It is as a rule an animal (whether edible and harmless or dangerous and feared) and more rarely a plant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/what-is-a-totem-it-is-as-a-rule-an-animal-whether-edible-and-harmless/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [The bonsai is not you working on the tree; you have to have the tree work on you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-naka/the-bonsai-is-not-you-working-on-the-tree-you-have-to-have-the-tree/) [John Naka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-naka/) > [“He was the youngest and newest member of a four-man team. Hence, low man on the totem pole. Except that calling a new guy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-child/he-was-the-youngest-and-newest-member-of-a-four-man-team-hence-low/) [Lee Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-child/) > [I'm usually the last man on the totem pole. Except for the sound effects and the final sound mix, the score is the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mancini/i-m-usually-the-last-man-on-the-totem-pole-except-for-the-sound/) [Henry Mancini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mancini/) > [“If you’re so far down the totem pole that someone considers it a favor to you just to have you in their circle (no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-n-onuorah/if-you-re-so-far-down-the-totem-pole-that-someone-considers-it-a/) [Michelle N. Onuorah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-n-onuorah/) > [I've learned a lot about what kind of actor I want or do not want to be while being on set. I sit back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-rodriguez/i-ve-learned-a-lot-about-what-kind-of-actor-i-want-or-do-not-want-to/) [Gina Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-rodriguez/) > [Atrial fibrillation has been the low man on the totem pole and so we're just trying to get more visibility about this particular disease…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-manilow/atrial-fibrillation-has-been-the-low-man-on-the-totem-pole-and-so-we/) [Barry Manilow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-manilow/) > [When I was in London at NBC, I was the lowest man on the totem pole. I would go to diplomatic receptions to meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-cockburn/when-i-was-in-london-at-nbc-i-was-the-lowest-man-on-the-totem-pole-i/) [Leslie Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-cockburn/) ## More by Louise Bourgeois > [Artists have to be useful. They have to fill a role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/artists-have-to-be-useful-they-have-to-fill-a-role/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [I am a searcher... I always was... and I still am... searching for the missing piece.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/i-am-a-searcher-i-always-was-and-i-still-am-searching-for-the-missing/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [My life has been regulated by insomnia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/my-life-has-been-regulated-by-insomnia/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [The colour blue - that is my colour - and the colour blue means you have left the drabness of day-to-day reality to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/the-colour-blue-that-is-my-colour-and-the-colour-blue-means-you-have/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [Artists are born not made. There's nothing you can do for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/artists-are-born-not-made-there-s-nothing-you-can-do-for-them/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [Everywhere in the modern world there is neglect, the need to be recognized, which is not satisfied. Art is a way of recognizing oneself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/everywhere-in-the-modern-world-there-is-neglect-the-need-to-be/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [It is not so much where my motivation comes from but rather how it manages to survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/it-is-not-so-much-where-my-motivation-comes-from-but-rather-how-it/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [Art is manipulation without intervention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/art-is-manipulation-without-intervention/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [Surrealism is anathema for me. Because the surrealists made a joke of everything. And I consider life a tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/surrealism-is-anathema-for-me-because-the-surrealists-made-a-joke-of/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [I am a lonely runner, but I am a long-distance runner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/i-am-a-lonely-runner-but-i-am-a-long-distance-runner/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [I work like a bee and feel that I accomplish little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/i-work-like-a-bee-and-feel-that-i-accomplish-little/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [“there are many realities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/there-are-many-realities/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [Horizontality is a desire to give up, to sleep. Verticality is an attempt to escape. Hanging and floating are states of ambivalence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/horizontality-is-a-desire-to-give-up-to-sleep-verticality-is-an/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [Clothing is . . . an exercise in memory. It makes me explore the past: how did I feel when I wore that. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/clothing-is-an-exercise-in-memory-it-makes-me-explore-the-past-how/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [What modern art means is that you have to keep finding new ways to express yourself, to express the problems, that there are no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/what-modern-art-means-is-that-you-have-to-keep-finding-new-ways-to/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) [Explore all 76 Louise Bourgeois quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) ## More Flower quotes > [“It is not the force of the wind, but the depth of the roots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/it-is-not-the-force-of-the-wind-but-the-depth-of-the-roots/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Most girls get flowers or candy. I get a declaration of martial law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-shearin/most-girls-get-flowers-or-candy-i-get-a-declaration-of-martial-law/) [Lisa Shearin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-shearin/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Spring training means flowers, people coming outdoors, sunshine, optimism and baseball. Spring training is a time to think about being young again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-banks/spring-training-means-flowers-people-coming-outdoors-sunshine/) [Ernie Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-banks/) > [Sometimes, sometimes it is really difficult to turn and walk away from someone you have loved and cherished for so long. You know deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kreger/sometimes-sometimes-it-is-really-difficult-to-turn-and-walk-away-from/) [David Kreger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kreger/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [A garden has a curious innocent way of consuming cash while all the time you are under the illusion that you are spending nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-meynell/a-garden-has-a-curious-innocent-way-of-consuming-cash-while-all-the/) [Esther Meynell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-meynell/) > [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-connell/my-days-the-blossom-of-my-youth-and-the-flower-of-my-manhood-have/) [Daniel O'Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-connell/) > [My life is a crystal teardrop. There are snowflakes falling in the teardrop and little figures trudging in slow motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-baez/my-life-is-a-crystal-teardrop-there-are-snowflakes-falling-in-the/) [Joan Baez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-baez/) > [“But any picture could deal with the problem of light. The problem with this picture is greater than that of reflective surfaces - it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-otto/but-any-picture-could-deal-with-the-problem-of-light-the-problem-with/) [Whitney Otto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-otto/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) [Browse all 12,347 Flower quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Look at it this way - a totem pole is just a decorated tree. 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