There is something spectacular about the best of Toonoo Sharky’s bird sculptures. They can be beautifully naturalistic like the remarkable Bird of Prey (see First Arts, Dec. 2022, Lot 28), or more stylized and abstracted like Bird Fish Transformation (see First Arts, June 2024, Lot 73). In the latter category, rather than opting for a literal representation, Toonoo masterfully distills his subjects down to their essential “birdness.” With Opposing Birds, the artist combines the best of both approaches, presenting us with a tightly compressed composition in which two “Janus-birds” are fused into a fiery embrace; whether it is amorous or combative is hard to tell. Toonoo truncates the birds’ bodies and eliminates two wings, giving us only what he deems important: massive heads, powerful talons, and gorgeous plumage. With its recto-verso composition, this remarkable sculpture is stunning viewed from any angle.

References: For an impressive Bird of Prey by the artist see First Arts, 5 Dec. 2022, Lot 28. For other fine 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. 71 (see text); Derek Norton and Nigel Reading, Cape Dorset Sculpture, (Vancouver: Douglas and McIntrye, 2005), p. 76. See the article on the artist by Jessica Tomic-Bagshaw, “Contemporary Artist: Toonoo Sharky” in Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3, Fall 2001, pp. 4-6.