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Artworks
MATHEW AQIGAAQ (1940-2010) QAMANI'TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)
Heaping Herd of Resting Caribou, c. early 1970sstone and antler, 7.25 x 15.5 x 9.5 in (18.4 x 39.4 x 24.1 cm)
signed, "ᐊᑭᒐ".LOT 107
ESTIMATE: $4,000 — $6,000
Further images
Mathew Aqigaaq once remarked, “People are my favourite subjects, Inuit” (Arctic Spirit, p. 138), and that same attentiveness to human presence shapes Heaping Herd of Resting Caribou, where his regard...Mathew Aqigaaq once remarked, “People are my favourite subjects, Inuit” (Arctic Spirit, p. 138), and that same attentiveness to human presence shapes Heaping Herd of Resting Caribou, where his regard for people flows into his vision of animals.
At first the work seems to depict a simple gathering, yet the way the caribou are pressed together conveys more than zoological observation. Their overlapping forms create a sense of closeness that recalls the human condition, where survival and meaning emerge through kinship and proximity. Each caribou remains distinct, yet their arrangement emphasizes relation, as if the individuality of each body depends on its place within the herd. The contours fold and flow into one another, producing a rhythm that echoes the slow adjustments of a group at rest.
Rounded shapes accumulate across the surface like breathing bodies, hinting at a shared potential for movement, as though the herd might rise all at once, bound not only by instinct but also by the invisible ties of togetherness.
ND
Provenance
Private Collection, Toronto;
Estate of the above.
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