While perhaps best known for her depictions of women in stone, Oviloo Tunnillie was also—like many of her peers—a skilled sculptor of Arctic wildlife. And while the subject of the bird might have been commonplace for many artists of the North, it is considered a special and rare subject for Tunnillie: one that demonstrates the breadth of her skills, especially in depicting naturalism. Only a few sculptors were able develop a style so distinctive, refined, and meticulous. Oviloo’s stature as Kinngait’s most recognized woman carver made the feat even more impressive, competing in an art traditionally practiced by men at a higher level than many of them. As Darlene Coward Wight writes: “…her degree of naturalistic detail, from the feathers to the claws, surpasses that achieved by many other artists…” [1]. Wight goes on to compare Tunnillie’s high naturalism with that of Kananginak Pootoogook’s, Inuit art’s top wildlife artist in drawings and prints.

Oviloo’s bird creations, usually falcons or hawks, are distinctive for their downturned beaks, crimped talons, almond-shaped eyes, and brilliantly detailed plumage. This exquisite example is a classic falcon. Carved into gorgeous green and brown veined serpentinite, the bird appears at the point just before take-off as its graceful body points at an angle upward, talons included. For other examples of raptors by Oviloo Tunnillie, see both Hawk Landed (1989) and Hawk Taking Off (c. 1987) [2].

1. Wight, Oviloo Tunnillie: Life & Work, 2019

2. Illustrated in Leroux et al, Inuit Women Artists, 1994, pp. 233, 237; & Wight, Oviloo Tunnillie: A Woman’s Story in Stone, 2016, cats. 65, 67.

References: For other examples of bird sculptures by Oviloo see Darlene Coward Wight’s solo exhibition catalogue on the artist: Oviloo Tunnillie: A Woman’s Story in Stone, (Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2016), cats. 65-67; Marion Scott Gallery, Oviloo Tunnillie, (Vancouver: 1994), cats. 9, 12; and Odette Leroux et al., Inuit Women Artists, (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre / Gatineau: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994), pp. 233 237.