This is a rare work by Tiktak, one of the very few examples of mothers and children in which the parent and child are facing and/or embracing each other; scenes of couples greeting each other seem marginally more common. In fact only one other example immediately comes to mind: a Mother and Child from c. 1966 in the Sarick Collection at the AGO (see reference). It’s a charming, quite engaging scene from an artist whose work is usually considered quite sober. We are uncertain if the mother and her child are meeting in an embrace, or if the child is trying to pull away, as children are sometimes wont to do. Either way the effect is playful, even boisterous. We love the way that the child turns its head to engage the viewer (or ask for help!).

The informal mood of Mother and Child is reinforced by the slightly robust carving style. Tiktak happily leaves behind the marks of his tools: bore holes, rasp and file marks, and saw cuts are all in evidence. The negative spaces are created by four round holes of different sizes, two to define the figures’ legs, one to define the arms, and another large one to separate the two torsos. The holes are perhaps Tiktak’s most brilliant sculptural invention, akin to Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth’s famous pierced forms. In this work the largest hole boldly animates the entire composition, simultaneously separating the two figures and binding them together. There is almost a feeling of elasticity, adding to the sculpture’s palpable sense of movement and energy. Fantastic.

References: Tiktak’s 1966 Mother and Child (shown facing each other) in the Sarick Collection is illustrated in Gerald McMaster, editor, Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010), p. 126. Another possible example is Two Figures from 1968 – we say “possible” because the figures are almost the same size – see Jean Blodgett, The Mulders Collection of Eskimo Sculpture (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1976) cat. 137. For similarly styled works by Tiktak see George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972/92) fig. 48 (a Figure from 1967, WAG); Norman Zepp, The Williamson Collection of Inuit Sculpture (Regina: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, 1987) cat. 76. See also Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, November 2014, Lot 216. For other important depictions of mothers and children by Tiktak see Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1998, fig. 75, also reproduced in Norman Zepp, Pure Vision: The Keewatin Spirit (Regina: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, 1986) cat. 44; and several examples in George Swinton, Tiktak: Sculptor from Rankin Inlet, N.W.T. (Winnipeg: Gallery One-One-One, University of Manitoba, 1970). See also First Arts Auction, December 2020, Lot 110.