Lot 83
MARC ALIKASWA (1928-2008) ARVIAT (ESKIMO POINT)
Mother and Child, Holding a Seal, c. late 1980s

stone, 12.25 x 14.25 x 6.75 in (31.1 x 36.2 x 17.1 cm)
unsigned.

Provenance
An American Private Collection.

Before his move to communities on the Hudson Bay coast Marc Alikaswa lived inland near the famous Ennadai Lake camp led by Aulatjut and his wife Nutaraaluk. Although his father was a famous shaman, Alikaswa’s work never depicted shamanism or the spirit world. He was, however, a spirited drum dancer and even travelled south to perform on occasion. Like most of his Arviat peers he preferred carving single figures or mothers with children. The great majority of Alikaswa’s sculptures are quite small and the figures he created, with their simple drilled facial features, often have an air of hesitancy and even melancholy. This more monumental work captures those same feelings. We wonder whether the sculpture actually represents a hungry mother dreaming of being able to find a seal to feed her child.

References

For important works by Alikaswa see Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Arviat: Artists of Past Present and Future (Vancouver: Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, 1997), cats. 13, 29; also Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, May 2017, Lot 179.