Paul Malliki is a wildlife artist of the highest order. He was born at an outpost camp near Igloolik, moved into the community when he was ten years old, and to Naujaat (Repulse Bay) when he was twenty. Amazingly, he began carving when he was five years old, and carved to support his family already as a teenager. His works have been exhibited across North America, and he has received several important commissions including an invitation to collaborate on the creation of the Nunavut Mace in 1999. Malliki has taught carving courses locally for Arctic College, served for a time on the Board of the Inuit Art Foundation, and in September 2016 was invited to an artist-in-residence program sponsored by the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

Malliki was raised on the land and has hunted all his life. When out on the land he studies the animals carefully and prides himself on depicting not only the physical appearance but also the movements and attitudes of his animal subjects—mostly polar bears and caribou—faithfully. Malliki follows in the tradition of some of the greatest Inuit wildlife sculptors; we are reminded of the poses and forms of bears by Henry Evaluardjuk, Davie Atchealak, and Nuna Parr, and the beautiful textures of Lucassie Ikkidluak’s muskoxen.

References: For fine examples of caribou carved by the artist see Walker’s Auctions, Nov. 2015, Lot 238; and Nov. 2016, Lot 224