In Inuit art, and in the Kitikmeot regional sculpture style in particular, things are not always as they appear to be. At first glance this composition looks like a “typical” mother and child subject (with, admittedly, the addition of a demonic spirit). However, this sculpture, in both style and subject matter, closely resembles a work by Ullulaq titled Amayukyuk: the Woman Who Tried to Make People Laugh from 1989, illustrated in Darlene Wight’s Art & Expression of the Netsilik catalogue (cat. 158). In the catalogue Ullulaq explains that if the evil woman succeeded in making her victims laugh she would put them in her hood and carry them away. In that work, the removable figure in the woman’s hands is her pet dog.

So, what do we have here, a Mother and Child or another depiction of Amayukyuk? Both the mother / Amayukyuk and the child / victim seem surprised or terrified. It’s probably safe to assume that the removable figure is neither a baby or a dog. Almost certainly it is a spirit, and probably a malevolent one; it has grown what appears to be a third eye or perhaps some mark of evil on its face; that might account for the main figures’ expressions of terror.

The psychological aspect of Ullulaq’s art is complicated; the artist is famous for deftly mixing together horror and hilarity, terror and surprise and absurdity. Ullulaq’s sculptures can be unsettling, but at the same time - as with great horror films - they are almost irresistible, strangely compelling, and hugely entertaining.