Inuit art: Inuk Man
Inuit Artist: Louie Uttaq
Size: 8" high, 7" wide, 6" deep
Community: Gjoa Haven, NU 21
Stone: Serpentinite & Caribou antler
id: c-017
Louie Uttaq is a well respected and prolific Inuit carver from Gjoa Haven who carves a wide range of subjects from bears, to wonderful vignettes depicting every day Inuit life.
Many times, the subject of his scenes is often a single Inuk man.
I believe that Uttaq admires and respects these hearty Inuk men who spend long hours providing for their families and ekeing out a living by hunting and fishing.
Our Inuk is warm in his parka, pants and sealskin boots. He is standing on an ice floe with a club patiently waiting for an unsuspecting seal to appear in the water below him.
These men spend long hours outside in one of the harshest and coldest environments on Earth.
Decades of working and living under these conditions prematurely age these men (and women). It takes a certain type of courage to live in the Far North.
No matter how simple the carving or scene, Uttaq works meticulously to tell its story.
The Inuk"s parka, his hat,face and mittens are embroidered and etched with exacting detail.
Uttaq loves to use more than one type of medium for his carvings.
In this carving, the ridge of ice and the club are fashioned from caribou antler.
The contrast with the black serpentinite stone gives texture and complexity to the carving.
Louie is a skilled and imaginative carver. He is well known and respected and is one of the more prolific Gjoa Haven artists.
This sculpture is complex and heart rendering. What story does it tell you?
See our notes on The Gjoa Haven Collection.
PROUDLY CANADIAN SINCE 2007
We promise to send you only good things
