Posts Tagged ‘nunavet territory’

Artist of the moment…..John Kavik

{ August 7, 2013 @ 2:55 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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John Kavik was one of the first generations of Inuit artists to be known on a worldwide basis. John Kavik was born in Uqsuqtuq, Gjoa Haven in 1897. Kavik grew up in the traditional Inuit nomadic lifestyle eventually moving first to Baker Lake and then settling in the Rankin Inlet, Nunavut Territory, Canada. Kavik was a renown sculptor and skilled graphic artist.

A real artistic genius, many of the works are creative works such as a vase with musk ox heads. Some works are very modern in their execution when you look at the title.

price range information: Works range from $500 to $50,000. Many sculptures are priced in the $1,000 to $50,000.

As with most Inuit artists I love the resourcefulness of their artists for what they use for a carving medium. In some case the vertebrae of a whalebone. An example of this is the first image in the gallery.

In this clip we look at one of the sculptures of John Kavik up for auction.

Though I have yet to document an Inuit artist living to age 100, John Kavik came close passing away in 1993 at the age of 96 years old. No wonder he was so prolific!

D

Artist of the moment…..Jaco Ishulutaq

{ August 5, 2013 @ 10:24 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Jaco Ishulutaq is a contemporary master Inuit sculptor born the Nunavet Territory of Canada in the year 1951. Ishulutaq hails from the city of Panniqtuuq, Nunavet Territory, Canada.  The artist is renown for his detail in his work. Sometimes on his figure work he even includes very small items such as teeth.

In this clip we watch the artist give a brief carving demo on making a whale. The magic happens right before your eyes!

Below a great one on one interview with Jaco Ishulutaq.

Price range information: Works range from $500 to $14,000.

As you can see from the demonstration the artist is starting to flourish as a sculptor. His work shows a great blend of realism and creativity that brings stones to life!

D

Artist of the moment….Ohotaq or Oqutaq Mikkigak

{ August 3, 2013 @ 12:29 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Ohotaq  Mikkigak is wonderful contemporary Inuit graphic artist.  Ohotaq Mikkigak is a prolific printmaker and was born in Cape Dorset, Nunavet Territory, Canada in the year 1936.

The artist enjoys drawing anything from birds, snowmobiles, boats, planes, shaman, and the landscape. Mikkigak also enjoys hunting, another favorite subject for the artist.

He often works in pencil crayon for his chosen medium.

Ohotaq is the wife of the previous post, Qaunaq Mikkigak.

Ohotaq was included in the Cape Dorset Print collections in the 1960s but at this time many Inuits were changing from the nomadic lifestyle to living in year round settlements. As the community grew and grew he and his wife both had full time jobs. As both retired and turned to art full time, both he and wife are very prolific as far as output.

Price range information: Works range from $500 to $8,000.

For some art homework, how about doing a cartoon of a bird in the style of the Inuits or maybe Charlie Harper!

D

Artist of the moment……Martha Tickie

{ July 30, 2013 @ 8:36 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Martha Tickie also known as Martha Tickiq is a contemporary Inuit artist born in Baker Lake, Nunavet Territory, Canada in the year 1939. Tickie is renown for her work with the genre of the mother and child.

Price range information: Sorry no information available.

What I enjoy most about Tickie is that she talks about not being afraid to experiment, or make a mistake.

Tickie learned to carve from her grandfather.

Its important to note that the artist carves year round except for July. She heads to cabin she built on a river. Sounds like paradise to me!

In addition to her work with the mother and child genre, Tickie also enjoys working with the musk ox.

D

Artist of the moment……Francoise Oklaga

{ July 28, 2013 @ 1:00 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Francoise Oklaga was a great Inuit printmaker born in Coral Harbour, Nunavet Territory, Canada in the year 1924.

Oklaga passed away in Baker Lake, Nunavet Territory, Canada in 1991 at the age of 67 years old. Her brother was the famous artist Pudlo Pudlat whom I have covered previously.

From 1981 to 1990 the artist participated in seven annual Baker Lake print collections.

In addition to graphic arts she was also great at working with fabrics.

price range information; The artist worked with original drawings and prints ranging from $300 to $1,000.

No more information on this art but more Inuit art coming soon!

D

Artist of the moment…..Osuitok Ipeelee

{ June 20, 2013 @ 12:34 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Osuitok Ipeelee was one of the first famous and world renown Inuit artists who was born in the Cape Dorset, Nunavet Territory, Canada in the year 1923. Ipeelee  loved to incorporate many different mediums in his carvings. His father was a respected carver named Ohotok. He sold his first carving done in ivory in the 1940s. James Houston, the urban Canadian that longed for more in life and moved to the wilderness and helped bring the Inuits much needed revenue from art that was lost from fur trading and trapping. Houston penned a book and a movie was made about his journeys. Check my previous post on James Houston.

Ipeelee was included in the trip of Inuit carvings that traveled the globe in the early 1970s, the first time the Inuit artists were put on the world stage.

Sadly as he got older Ipeelee developed Parkinson’s disease and switched a very minimal style. I would compare it to the great Edgar Degas and the way he simplified forms as his eyesight all but disappeared but he still wanted to create art, so he did!

Included in the National Gallery of Canada, the Vatican Art Collection, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Price range information: Most works range from $1,000 to $17,000.

In this clip we see a great example of using mixed media is shown is his sculpture of a caribou in the gallery. Rather than carve the entire work in stone, as many of his peers would do, the artist decided to use real antlers on the carving. A work of art might contain antlers, tusks, animal hide, ivory, and stone.

In this clip from Waddington’s auction house we visit a sculpture that is an etched tusk on a walrus head base.

Here we see a wonderful piece celebrating the mother and child relationship.

The artist passed away in 2005 at the age of 82 years old.

D

Artist of the moment….Judas Ullulaq

{ June 17, 2013 @ 3:34 am } · { Uncategorized }
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Judas Ullulaq was yet another of the master Inuit artists specializing in carving the human figure. Ullulaq was born in Gjoa Haven, Nunavet Territory, Canada in 1937.

Moved to Spence Bay whilst in his 2os and lived the basic nomadic Inuit lifestyle. Ullulaq grew up with many girls as his peers and learned how to make dolls. Ulluluq is the only Inuit artist I have studied to approach some western ideas  in paintings, such as the nude or in this case a woman breast feeding. In the gallery these are the sand colored works.

Started to carve as many of his peers did, to replace income lost from the cessation of the fur trade.

Had two other well known artists that were brothers Nelson Takkiruq and Charlie Ugyuk.

Judas Ullulaq passed away in 1999 at the age of 62 years old.

Price range information: Works range from $2,000 to $20,000.

Below we see a work by Ullulaq titled “Making Fish.” From the great Waddington’s Auction House of Canada.

A work titled “the Fiddler.”

And lastly a work featuring a mother and child. Another great fact about the Inuit artists, they use very culturally significant artifacts such as carving whalebone or caribou antlers. This work is a mixed media work using stone and bone. 

D