In the 1978 WAG catalogue The Coming and Going of the Shaman, Jean Blodgett writes: “Sometimes the spirits actually lived with the shaman, perching on his shoulder, his head, or staying in his mouth” (p. 50). While it’s not likely that Judas Ullulaq meant to convey this idea literally, it does lead our thoughts in that direction. Here are two possible interpretations: the muskox helping spirit, having entered the shaman’s body and transformed him or her, is now free to leave through the shaman’s mouth; or, the shaman, having called up the muskox helping spirit and taken on its form and powers, now expels the spirit in an outward breath. It’s fun to take oneself into the inventive mind of a brilliant artist like Ullulaq and wander around for a while.

This remarkable and truly compelling work utilizes a daring compositional format that Ullulaq attempted only rarely (perhaps only the one time): making use of a full set of horns still attached to part of the animal’s skull, perched on an amorphous that might represent the body of the shaman, or a muskox, or a bird. The sculpture is actually a relatively simple construction, but conceptually and visually it’s complex and rich, and, to our eyes, truly magical. This dramatic image, so stark and eerie on one hand yet touched by Ullulaq’s sparkling sense of humour and - dare we say it – an almost childlike charm (try not to think of Pippi Longstocking!) is a testament to the artist’s genius and his joyful approach to art-making.

References: For a closely related work by Ullulaq see Harold Seidelman and James Turner, The Inuit Imagination: Arctic Myth and Sculpture (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1993), fig. 42. The small figure of the muskox brings to mind a Young Muskox from c. 1990 in the Albrecht Collection, in Ingo Hessel, Arctic Spirit:Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum (Phoenix: Heard Museum/Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2006), fig. 84. For a discussion of Ullulaq’s life and work, and illustrations of twenty sculptures see Darlene Coward Wight, Art & Expression of the Netsilik (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2000) pp. 152-171.