This large yet sensitively rendered work is dominated by the large caribou head and climbing human figure at the top, and also features three faces, another dynamic human figure and a dog below. The small number of subjects suggests that this image likely depicts a single Caribou Inuit family – presumably Anowtalik’s own – sustained or perhaps watched over by the most important animal in their lives. The graceful verticality of the composition lends this lovely sculpture an almost totemic quality.
The importance of caribou to Anowtalik’s Ahiarmiut clan (originally from the inland area surrounding Ennadai Lake) is an important aspect of Anowtalik’s art. The animals appear frequently in his sculptures and in his late-career drawings, and of course provide the raw material for his whimsical antler works. Family was Anowtalik’s favoured subject matter, an inclination he shared with his artist-wife Mary Ayaq (Akjar) and his mother-in-law Elizabeth Nutaraaluk (see Lot 69). For an important similar composition by Anowtalik see First Arts, 1 December 2020, Lot 128.
