Best-known for his brilliant drawings and prints depicting Arctic animals, Kananginak Pootoogook was also an incredibly skilled carver. Among Kananginak’s favourite subjects in both graphic art and sculpture was the muskox. This remarkable animal captured Kananginak’s imagination even though it is not native to Baffin Island. As with other carved examples by the artist, Windswept Muskox displays a variety of beautifully flowing lines that suggest the animal’s thick coat of hair, but more importantly, also a sense of motion caused by fierce Arctic winds, and the indomitable spirit of the animal.

References: For other examples of muskox sculptures by Kananginak see Derek Norton and Nigel Reading, Cape Dorset Sculpture, (Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 2005), pp. 10 and 85.