Shamanic and demonic imagery dominated Ugyuk’s art – and his life – for at least the last dozen years of his life. The main Janus-faced figure almost surely depicts a demon; whether or not the smaller figure is another demon or a human (likely a shaman) is open to interpretation. Our guess is a shaman because its facial features, while grotesque, are essentially human. It is also quite possible that the human figure represents Ugyuk himself; he long “wrestled with” the personal demons of alcohol and violence. The demonic figure freely mixes animal, human, and Satanic attributes; Christian (or more specifically anti-Christian) imagery appears regularly in Ugyuk’s works of this type [1]. And interestingly, like many of Ugyuk’s demon subjects, the large figure possesses a strangely infantile or Cupid-like quality as well. It’s strong stuff, yet it is strangely compelling. We would be remiss if we did not point out the brilliant manner in which the antler tail supports the figure and visually echoes the demon’s raised arm.

1. Darlene Wight calls it his “fire-and-brimstone” imagery in her Netsilik catalogue (p. 104).

References: For similar compositions by the artist see Ingo Hessel, Inuit Art: An Introduction (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1998, fig. 100 (Sarick, AGO); Ingo Hessel, Arctic Spirit: Inuit Art from the Albrecht Collection at the Heard Museum (Phoenix: Heard Museum/Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2006), fig. 173 (Albrecht); George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1992 edition only) fig. 835. The section on the artist in Darlene Coward Wight, Art & Expression of the Netsilik (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2000) pp. 104-113 illustrates some sixteen works, several of which share stylistic attributes with this sculpture.