The Inuvialuit artist Abraham Anghik Ruben is celebrated for his imaginative compositions which incorporate Inuit traditional beliefs. This impressive sculpture by him is certainly a tour de force. At first, we see two mothers, arms around their children, and themselves embraced by an even larger figure (perhaps the grandmother); she is herself flanked by sinuous animal forms. Moving around the sculpture, we see further, intertwining children and animal shapes. The frontal view is a virtually symmetrical, balanced composition, yet tempered by its almost floral shape and grace. In contrast, the rear view is one of wild abandon: a dynamic scene of twisting, interwoven forms that partly wrap around the front. We come to realize that, taken together, the two parts illustrate widening circles of nurturing and protection – at first within the generations that make up human families, and enveloped in the protective embrace of Nature, represented by the swirling animal spirits. The artist masterfully varies the surface of the stone, playing the simpler, clothed human forms against sensuous animal bodies; soft, rounded contours against more sharply defined details; and highlights against deep shadows. Stunning.