A supreme talent both in sculpture and graphic arts, Pitseolak Niviaqsi had an eye for exquisite and precise detail and a knack for creating beautiful movement in his work. Though static in pose, this Mother Playing with Two Children is a wonderfully cheerful and lively composition; the two children push and climb to get a better view of what’s ahead, grasping their mother’s head. The mother, strong in stance and with a gentle smile, holds one small hand and one braid aloft, either in play or in an effort to keep it away from clutching fingers! Carefully carved in a vibrant green stone, this work has a charming and subtle interplay of positive and negative space around the many limbs of the figures. Another superb addition to Pitseolak’s small sculptural oeuvre.

References: For other fine works by the artist, see First Arts, Toronto, 12 June 2023, Lot 29, and further, including a depiction of the artist’s wife Sita and their twins, see the Spirit Wrestler solo exhibition catalogue, The Lyrical World of Pitseolak Niviaqsi, (Vancouver: Spirit Wrestler Gallery, 2001). For other important works by the artist see Ingo Hessel, Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Phoenix: Heard Museum, 2006), cat. 181 (see text), and the front cover of the Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 1, Spring 2002, illustrating Fisherwoman with Twins from 2001.