Kiakshuk was, above all, an observer of lived experience. Among his drawings and carvings, women often appear as central figures (see lots 8 and 94), a choice that underscores his recognition of their role within community life. This regard is made visible in the care he took with Eskimo Mother with Fox Trap. The woman is dressed in an elaborate south Baffin amautiq, its contrasting insets marked with precision and attention. She is presented not as a passive subject but as a figure fully engaged in her world. Her child looks out from the hood, while she holds a fox trap in her right hand and a bird in her left. The image is one of activity, presence and equanimity.

ND

References: For figures in similar style dress from the same era, see Baffin Woman, 1960 #70 and the drawing Seated Figures, 1960, illustrated in Jean Blodgett, Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983), cat. 56, p. 100. See also drawings in the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Object nos. CD.1.590; CD.1.570.