In film and television both in front of and behind the camera, Natar Ungalaaq has enjoyed a varied artistic life. Starting from a very young age, Ungalaaq’s carvings have a distinctive feel and emotion to them, both by way of the subject’s portrayal of action, and his use of added materials to the stone. In its use of mixed media, this Drum Dancer recalls Sedna with a Hairbrush, one of the artist’s most celebrated compositions. That sculpture, now in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada, was also chosen for the cover of the Fall 1993 issue of Inuit Art Quarterly.

Here, with knees bent and ready, and arms poised with beater and drum, this dancer has lifted her face to the sky, peaking out from her headdress, and is ready to begin her song. The fur will catch and flutter in the breeze as the drum sways, resonating out its sound with each beat. Far from the static nature of the stone, Ungalaaq’s figures have attitude and presence, and are merely caught in a moment of stillness before continuing on.

References: For further works by the artist, please see the famed Sedna with a Hairbrush in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada. This work was also featured on the cover of the Inuit Art Quarterly that featured a lengthy interview with the artist, Simeonie Kunnuk, “Natar Ungalaaq Talks About His Art and His Goals,” Inuit Art Quarterly, Fall 1993, Vol. 8, No. 3, p. 16 - 23, and cover. For further works by the artist, see the exhibition catalogue from Bart Hanna and Natar Ungalaaq: Drama in Stone, (Toronto: The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art, 1988).