Koomwartok Ashoona is one of the sons of famed Inuit artist Pitseolak Ashoona. Koomwartok Ashoona was born in the year 1930.
The artist had a wife and son who also became professional sculptors. He was based out of Cape Dorset, Nunavut Territory, Canada for his career.
Koomwartok Ashoona passed away in 1984.
His favorite subject matter included birds, the Goddess of the Sea named Sedna, and spirits.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
Its easy to see that the artist loved to draw and observe animals. His works in stone have a wonderful sense of life due to the flowing and curvy lines.
What a great example of an Inuit family that has had multiple generations of professional working artists!
Qaqaq Ashoona was a son of the famous Inuit artist Pitseolak Ashoona.
Qaqaq Ashoona was born in Ikirasak, Nunavut Territory in the year 1928. The artist began life as a hunter and trapper. He turned to art to make a living in 1953.
Ashoona used only hand tools to make his wonderful carvings.
His wife was also a well respected Inuit artist, Mayoreak Ashoona. She was a renown printmaker already featured here.
The artist passed away in 1996.
Price range information: Sorry none available.
Qaqaq Ashoona put great detail in his art. I enjoy his interpretations of the Goddess of the Sea, Sedna. They show a great sense of creativity and the sculptures have a great sense of life and animation.
Bill Nasogaluak is an Inuit artist born in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada in the year 1953. The artist is a self taught sculptor and painter. Working as a sculptor the artist is a mixed media master incorporating stone, antlers, and bone into some works.
Nasogaluak also taught the Arctic College.
The artist worked as an engineer for nearly two decades before choosing to pursue a career as a full time artist.
Nasogaluak enjoys working with traditional themes, but considers himself to have been born at a perfect time as he can relate to both traditional and more modern Inuit way of life. Some themes tacked by Nasogaluak include the shaman and my favorite, Sedna, the goddess of the sea.
Price range information: Works range from $1,000 to $7,000.
I really enjoy his use of the circle as part of his overall design. Also the artist was great at placing multiple faces in one sculpture, many times this technique is used when depicting a shaman transformation.
Paul Toolooktook was an Inuit artist born in Baker Lake, Nunavut Territory, Canada in the year 1947. His mother was a professional artist who carved and also made prints, her name was Martha Aptanik. Paul Toolooktook’s step brother, Basil Aptanik, is a professional artist working out of Baker Lake, Nunavut Territory. Basil will be the next post. Toolooktook was mainly a carver, but also produced some prints.
And below two depictions of the sea goddess Sedna made by Paul Toolooktook.
Toolooktook enjoyed working with animals and the figure. As a sculptor and carver Paul Toolooktook was very prolific.
Price range information: Works range from $1,000 to $10,000.
Paul Toolooktook passed away in 2003.
To close we take a look at a work by Basil Aptanik, Toolooktook’s step brother.
As an admirer of all things artistic its great to see how different artists portray the same subject matter. For me I enjoy looking at clothes, hands, and flowers as my top 3 subjects. Lets take a look at a subject matter that nearly every Inuit artist includes in their portfolio of work, Sedna the Goddess of the Sea.
Its great fun to see a flower painted by Robert Kushner and compare it to an Inuit arctic flower, or a flower done in the Shona style. Hands are my favorite because many cultures elongate the hands and fingers, two examples being the Shona and the Mexican muralist painters, to show the strength of their country’s working class.
To start with we see how a film version of the story of Sedna might be produced. The work is from a student at Cal-Arts which is one of the leading colleges in the world when it comes to learning not only about drawing, but also how to use technology in the world of animation and cartoons. Its a great visual to see how Sedna’s fingers became the creatures of the sea.
Here we have some wonderful works by Pitseolak Niviaqsi. His parents and some siblings were professional artists based out of Cape Dorset, Nunavut Territory. Niviaqsi is also a mentor to many up and coming Cape Dorset artists.
And here we have a wonderful graphic work by Ningeokuluk Teevee, also based out of Cape Dorset.
And here a wonderful offering from Ruben Anton Komangapik made from whalebone and antler. The facial expression is awesome!
And a wonderful sculpture of Sedna by Kellypalik Mangitak.
And to close we will look at a work by Nuveeya Ipellie:
I myself just started a paper collage of Sedna and hope to post it here by Friday.
Ruben Anton Komangapik is an Inuit artist born in Iqaluit, Nunavut Territory, Canada born in the year 1976. Komangapik is one of my favorite Inuit artists as he is not only the same age as myself, but also for his unique blend of materials he uses. Sure he uses the normal Inuit mediums such as whalebone or caribou antlers, but the artist also uses such items not usually associated with Inuit art like metal, gemstones and ivory.
price range information: Sorry none available.
I love the mixture of mediums in his portrayal of the goddess of the sea in the gallery, even the teeth are shown in detail. When carving people he might work from a horn base.
The artist completed the jewelry and metal work program at the Nunavut Arctic College located in Iqaluit.
In this clip we view a wonderful shaman mask made by the artist.
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