Nick Sikkuark is one of the most remarkable sculptors to emerge from the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut. Best known for his surrealist works in organic materials—whale bone, caribou antler, ivory, and hair—Sikkuark’s art blurs the line between reality and the supernatural. Whether carving or drawing, his figures inhabit a world that feels both raw and otherworldly. Major exhibitions, including the National Gallery’s Nick Sikkuark: Humour and Horror, have celebrated his ability to unsettle and delight in equal measure.

Yet before Sikkuark explored the surreal, he was celebrated for his ivory miniatures, particularly his polar bears. These small carvings, often poised on bone bases suggestive of frozen landscapes, are studies in precision and grace. Dancing Polar Bear balances delicately on a caribou vertebra, its form animated, almost playful—like a performer mid-act on an Arctic highwire. Here, as always, Sikkuark’s genius lies in transformation: bone becomes movement, ivory becomes life, and the ordinary becomes extraordinary through his touch.