One of Jessie Oonark’s eight artistically talented children, Yuusipik is probably best remembered for her lovely wall hangings, which often illustrated fauna and landscape, and are notable for the beauty and subtlety of their embroidery. Darlene Coward Wight’s 2019 solo exhibition catalogue features mainly a series of late-career drawings, but Yuusipik began her art career in 1964 with carving, and she carved steadily for decades. From the mid 1980s on Yuusipik actually preferred to carve on a relatively large scale, unlike most women artists in Baker Lake.

This highly appealing sculpture of a father giving his son a piggyback ride is certainly large, but not unusually so. The work also fits with Yuusipik’s favourite subject matter: standing human figures. Wight’s catalogue illustrates a similarly tall Man and Pack Dog from 2001. And interestingly, a smaller carving of a man carrying a child on his back is also featured. The softly modelled contours of the figures in Father Carrying a Child on His Shoulders are typical for Yuusipik’s classic sculptural style, but the work has some atypical aspects as well. We can clearly see that the father’s body sags as he struggles to walk with the extra weight - after all, he is already carrying a backpack. And the son, who is clearly old enough to walk on his own, also seems unhappy about the situation. Oh dear.

Literature: For illustrations of several sculptures by Yuusipik see Darlene Coward Wight, Mary Yuusipik Singaqti: Back River Memories (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2018). See also Darlene Coward Wight, The Faye and Bert Settler Collection (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2004), pp. 104-105. For other subjects see First Arts Auction, July 2020, Lot 96; Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, May 2013, Lot 1.