Kitikmeot
(1931–1998)
(1931–1998)
Charlie Ugyuk (1931-1998) was born near Gjoa Haven but grew up travelling between King William Island and the Boothia Peninsula. He moved to Taloyoak (formerly Spence Bay) with his family in 1970. Ugyuk’s brothers, Judas Ullulaq, Nelson Takkiruq, Joata Suqslak and Stephen Aqqaq were all talented carvers and their work was included in the WAG exhibition and catalogue, Art and Expression of the Netsilik (1997).
Ugyuk began carving in 1966 and often used ivory inlays in his early stone work. Until the early 1980s, his sculptures were very realistic and his favourite subjects were falcons and polar bears. In the 1980s and 1990s, shamanic subjects appeared and could be described as deliberately grotesque. He carved shamans, which often appeared as devils. This was in response to missionaries who told Inuit that shamans were evil and represented the devil. Ugyuk had difficulty reconciling the loss of Inuit beliefs and the diminution of the power of the shamans with the imposition of Christianity. With savage caricature, he demonized both the old and the new forms of spirituality.
About
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.
