In Pudlo: Thirty Years of Drawing (1990, p. 69), Pudlo recounted the significance of Mallik Island. He remembered that his wife, Innukjuakju (see lot 56), gave birth unexpectedly while they were traveling after the sealift. As they reached the edge of Mallik Island, the baby “was born right there in the canoe.” Pudlo’s memory conveys the moment with vivid immediacy, transforming the island into a place of both urgency and joy, where new life entered their family under extraordinary circumstances.

Metiq on Mallik expresses a sense of joy through its radiant use of colour and flowing composition. Deep purples and vibrant greens dominate the image, their intensity heightened by textured passages of stonecut linework that ripple across the surface like waves. The bird itself, poised in profile, is framed by sweeping forms that suggest both feathers and currents of air, giving the figure a sense of buoyancy and lift. All together, the bold palette and dynamic structure evoke vitality and celebration, a fitting expression of the joy Pudlo associated with Mallik Island.