Luke Iksiktaaryuk began carving in the early 1960s. His earliest carvings were probably antler birds; a number of artists produced similar subjects at the time, apparently at the suggestion of the local crafts officer. However Iksiktaaryuk was the only Baker Lake artist to pursue antler carving exclusively and passionately (although he also took up drawing and became a graphic artist of some distinction). By 1968 at the latest he was carving mostly human figures, and he is now considered to have been the preeminent Inuit artist in the antler medium. Iksiktaaryuk was reputed to be a shaman, so it is not surprising that his subject matter consisted mostly of drum dance séances and shamans, often depicted in spirit flights.

Because of his choices of carving material and subject matter, Iksiktaaryuk’s sculptures often look quite stark and solemn, but the artist could just as easily express lighter moods when the spirit moved him. Iksiktaaryuk understood just how to make use of the expressive potential of his chosen medium. Far from limiting the artist’s options, it seems that for Iksiktaaryuk, antler’s organic curves, its subtle twists and narrowings, and its textural and colour changes offered an almost limitless range of possibilities for expression. Gesturing Figure reminds us of Dancing Man, another of Iksiktaaryuk’s single figures from 1970, which is illustrated in Norman Zepp’s 1986 Pure Vision catalogue (cat. 74). The two figures express a very similar sense of jauntiness and carefree spirit. Gesturing Figure may not be dancing but he is certainly expressing himself through his body language. Perhaps he is telling a funny story; we are sure we see a smile on the man’s face, perhaps even a mischievous one.

Literature: See the section on Iksiktaaryuk in Norman Zepp, Pure Vision: The Keewatin Spirit (Regina: Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, 1986), pp. 130-139. See also Jean Blodgett, The Coming and Going of the Shaman: Eskimo Shamanism and Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978), cats. 50, 89, 127; Art Gallery of Ontario, The People Within (Toronto: 1976), cats. 77-89; Marion Scott Gallery, Vision and Form: The Norman Zepp – Judith Varga Collection of Inuit Art (Vancouver, 2003), p. 129; Marion Scott Gallery, Inspiration: Four Decades of Sculpture by Canadian Inuit (Vancouver, 1995), cat. 56. See also First Arts Auction, July 2020, Lots 21, 91; and Walker’s Auctions, Ottawa, May 2016, Lot 47.