I have been fortunate to travel extensively and experience first hand, new people, traditions and cultures in Canada and throughout the world… From my travels and dialogue with distant peoples I am always learning and expanding my creative imagination for present and future endeavours [1].

While many can point to David Ruben Piqtoukun's expressions of Inuit storytelling as a hallmark of his canon of work, there are distinctly more southern (and western, from a certain point of view) subjects and aspects that make an appearance. Given the above-noted notion from Piqtoukun himself, we can begin to unpick the present lot. Untitled Composition (Thoughts of a Man) presents a beautiful range of Piqtoukun's carving abilities. A human face greets the viewer, eyes wide and lips parted as if mid-word. What can be mistaken for a long braid of hair reveals itself to be the individual scales of a fish swimming alongside the head. A plump seal is on the other side, chasing the fish, while an owl peers out from below it all, feathers ruffled against an unseen wind. Originally commissioned as a personal gift, the work also features a shallow relief scene of the three crosses on Calvary, set beneath a shining sun and a flowing body of water. In speaking with the consignor, we learned that the composition had been left entirely to the artist's discretion, making this unusual combination of subjects a particularly interesting expression of Piqtoukun's creative imagination.

1. David Ruben Piqtoukun, Artist's Statement. https://davidruben.com/about-david/. Accessed 13 October 2026.

AC