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Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: LATCHOLASSIE AKESUK (1919-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Transforming Owl, 1992
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: LATCHOLASSIE AKESUK (1919-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Transforming Owl, 1992
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: LATCHOLASSIE AKESUK (1919-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Transforming Owl, 1992
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: LATCHOLASSIE AKESUK (1919-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET), Transforming Owl, 1992

LATCHOLASSIE AKESUK (1919-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)

Transforming Owl, 1992
stone, 8 x 3.75 x 8 in (20.3 x 9.5 x 20.3 cm)
signed, "ᓚᓴ ᐅᓚᓯ";
dated "1992" to the accompanying igloo tag.
LOT 67
ESTIMATE: $1,800 — $2,800

Further images

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  • Transforming Owl

The son of the famous sculptor and graphic artist Tudlik, Latcholassie shared his father’s love of birds and became one of Cape Dorset’s most beloved sculptors. He is especially renowned for his quirky, often comical depictions of owls and hybrid “owl-people.” Latcholassie clearly enjoyed playing with the idea of animal-human transformation, but it is our sense that his sculptures were not shamanic in inspiration. Unlike that of most of his Cape Dorset peers, Latcholassie’s overall style was rather abstract, with simple realistic flourishes added to his often minimalist and exaggerated forms. With Transforming Owl, Latcholassie presents an enigmatic hybrid creature, with the upper body of an owl chick with tiny, charming wings seemingly grafted onto the legs of a kneeling human with strange oversize feet.


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The son of the famous sculptor and graphic artist Tudlik, Latcholassie shared his father’s love of birds and became one of Cape Dorset’s most beloved sculptors. He is renowned in particular for his quirky, often comical depictions of owls and hybrid “owl-people.” Latcholassie clearly enjoyed playing with the idea of animal-human transformation, but it is our sense that his sculptures were not shamanic in inspiration. Unlike that of most of his Cape Dorset peers Latcholassie’s overall style was rather abstract, with simple realistic flourishes added to his often minimalist and exaggerated forms. With Transforming Owl Latcholassie presents a quite enigmatic hybrid creature, with the upper body of an owl chick with tiny, charming wings grafted onto the legs of a kneeling human with strange oversize feet.


References: For a contemporaneous work by Latcholassie see First Arts Auction, December 2020, Lot 65. For several similar works from the later 1990s see Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Latcholassie Akesuk: Celebration in Stone (Vancouver: Spirit Wrestler Gallery, 1999)
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Provenance

A Toronto Collection.
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FIRST ARTS PREMIERS INC.  
Nadine Di Monte   |    647-286-5012   |    info@firstarts.ca 

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The main office of First Arts Premiers Inc. is located on the ancestral and traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat, the original owners and custodians of this land.  Today, it is home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

 

 

 

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