Elizabeth Nutaraaluk was the wife of Aulatjut, the leader of the famous inland Ahiarmiut (Caribou Inuit) camp at Ennadai Lake (known by local Inuit as Kitigaq). After she and her family suffered famine and several forced relocations in the 1950s, they finally settled in Arviat in the early 1960s. Nutaraaluk soon took up carving, and is today considered to be the grande dame among sculptors in Arviat.

Nutaraaluk’s Mother with Two Children is unusual in her oeuvre for a few reasons. Relatively large compared with other examples from the early 1970s, this impressive sculpture exudes an indomitable monumentality. Furthermore, the mother carries two children rather than one; we do know of another fine example from 1975 (see Hessel, Arctic Spirit, cat. 39), but that work is literally half the size of this one. Finally, the mother lacks Nutaraaluk’s trademark criss-cross braid. Here her head is framed by her amautiq hood. However, the artist’s highly distinctive hatch mark treatment of the woman’s hands is here, and Nutaraaluk’s overall primal carving style is very much in evidence.

Nutaraaluk’s compositions are seldom “pretty” in the typical sense of the word, but they are beautiful works of art, charged with emotional power and sculptural strength. Nutaraaluk’s works are a testament to her suffering, but they also symbolize her love for her family. We love the stoical demeanour of this woman, as she holds her infant with one arm while trying to hang on to a fidgety youngster with the other.

References: For a contemporaneous work by Nutaraaluk also depicting a mother and two children see Ingo Hessel, Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Phoenix: Heard Museum, 2006), cat. 39, p. 41. For similar works by the artist see Marion Scott Gallery, Vision and Form, (Vancouver, 2003), p. 122; and Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Classic Inuit, (2005) cat. 30. For another similar example in the Sarick Collection at the AGO, see Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction, (Douglas & McIntyre, 1998), fig. 104; also illustrated in Julian Spalding, The Best Art You've Never Seen: 101 Hidden Treasures from Around the World, (London: Rough Guides, 2010), p. 191.