Davidialuk, both in sculptures and in prints, was the consummate Inuit storyteller. While perhaps best known for his interpretations of Inuit legends, Davidialuk was also a keen observer of arctic flora and fauna. The loon seems to have been of particular interest to Davidialuk perhaps because it also figures prominently in numerous Inuit legends. Davidialuk produced roughly a dozen graphics featuring the loon as a central subject and this wonderful sculpture bears an uncanny resemblance to Davidialuk’s 1977 stonecut titled Loon Eating a Fish Under the Water.

References: For similar works by Davidialuk see Bernard Saladin d’Anglure, La parole changée en pierre: vie et oeuvre de Davidialuk Alasuaq, artiste inuit du Québec arctique (Québec: Ministère des affaires culturelles, 1978), p. 109. For the artist’s 1977 stonecut titled Loon Eating a Fish Under the Water see Marybelle Myers, editor, Davidialuk 1977 (Montreal: FCNQ, 1977), cat. 26.