In the early 1960s, artwork depicting spirits and animal transformations were popular in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), but went out of favour by the 1970s. Since the late 1980s, sculptors have been reviving the popularity of transformation imagery, in particular shamanic transformation, even if their knowledge of the background stories and belief is somewhat vague. Kellypalik Qimirpik confessed that while he is not as familiar as he would like with traditional tales, he really enjoys creating animal-human transformations. Rather than presenting a shaman as a human with animal attributes, Kellypalik usually depicts a large, expressive human face emerging from the torso of an animal.

In 2006, a major collection of 246 sculptures was donated to the Gallery by Vancouver collector Dr. Harry Winrob. Originally from Winnipeg, Winrob had made occasional purchases of Inuit carvings beginning in 1968. He became interested in seriously collecting Inuit sculpture in 1971, and soon focused on acquiring works made of organic materials from game animals (whalebone, walrus ivory, and caribou antler). Fifty-four sculptures in Winrob’s collection are created from organic materials, and thirty-six of these are of whale bone. Winrob once gave his background as a physician as the reason for his interest in these materials. However, much of his interest was also aesthetic. He was particularly interested in the flamboyant sculpture by Nattilingmiut (Netsilik) artists from Taloyoak, Gjoa Haven, and Kugaaruk. Sculpture with shamanic content fascinated him, particularly animal/human transformations. He explained that it was not the “classic” but the atypical, even the bizarre that held a strong attraction for him. In March 2008, Harry Winrob’s collection was the subject of a major WAG exhibition and catalogue.