Baker Lake, Seated Figure, ca. 1973-75, green-grey stone, signed in syllabics, 11 x 11.25 x 7.5 in, 27.9 x 28.6 x 19 cm. Provenance: Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, Toronto; private collection, Toronto. ... Born near Baker Lake, Tuna Iquliq moved to Rankin Inlet in the late 1950s, probably to work at the nickel mine, and began his carving career there. Immediately upon his return to Baker Lake in the early 1970s he produced a powerful group of works that immediately placed him in the top ranks of Baker Lake sculptors. Three trademark features of his work from the early 1970s are seen here: the extreme ruggedness of the overall form, with “blemishes” left intact; the exaggeration of the figure’s bulky lower body; and the almost Kavik-like rawness of the facial features. For several other examples of Tuna Iquliq’s work from this period, see the Art Gallery of Ontario exhibition catalogue The People Within (AGO 1976).--- CATEGORIES: Inuit, Eskimo