This handsome and sizeable work is a stellar example of Andy Miki’s carving style from the mid-1960s, when he was living in Tikirajuaq (Whale Cove). In broad terms, Miki’s carvings from this period retain more naturalism and formal clarity than his later work, with animal forms that are still easily recognizable despite their simplified, stylized treatment.

Here, Miki anchors the form with just a few carefully observed details: a stubby tail, appendages that might register as either fins or legs, and a gently tapering snout marked by the artist’s characteristic and clear lip line. The animal’s identity, however, is not pinned down too neatly. Miki keeps the beast beautifully elusive. He gives us just enough to flirt with identification, then pulls back before the form settles into certainty. This could well be a caribou; it could just as convincingly be a seal. Miki was of inland Caribou Inuit background, yet by this date was living on the coast at Whale Cove, making either reading wholly plausible. To borrow and bend an old adage, subject lies in the eye of the beholder.

ND