Lukta Qiatsuq was known by many as a master printer in the Cape Dorset stonecut studio and is perhaps less known for his drawings and sculptures that are, however, of equally exquisite quality. As a sculptor, Lukta excelled in creating elegant and fluid compositions. This graceful work succeeds in capturing the elongated body of a loon in the process of self-grooming, a subject the artist depicted multiple times throughout his career. The bird’s elegant neck is beautifully curved, arching back to the upturned wing in a movement that is perfectly balanced by a similar turn of the right foot. Carved in the finest Cape Dorset green serpentine, this dapper bird perfectly captures the brilliance which Lukta was able to bring to his sculptural subjects.

In Susan Gustavison’s catalogue Northern Rock, Lukta explains the technical carving process behind a similarly styled sculpture of the same name, “These days I have started using grinders, but I used an axe for the first pieces I did. In the early 1980s, I didn’t use a regular axe. I was using files that were welded together.” The artist goes on to discuss the differences between carving stone sculpture and carving stone in the stonecut print studio, explaining his preference for the former, “Making pieces like this is not as difficult as carving the stone blocks for printing. It was very difficult doing the outlines of the drawings on the stone. And it was just as difficult, or more difficult, applying the different colours of ink for the copies [original prints] made from the stone block. Some people would just give up and walk out. I would just keep trying harder at times, when it became too difficult” [1]. While stonecutting was Lukta’s primary job, sculpture in the round provided an avenue through which his own creative subjects could come to life. We are thankful that he took the time to do this; the results are spectacular.

1. The artist from a 1998 interview in Gustavison, Northern Rock: Contemporary Inuit Stone Sculpture, 1999, p. 63.