About
Standing Caribou
Standing Caribou
Widely considered one of the greatest of all Inuit sculptors, Osuitok Ipeelee learnt to carve at the age of 13 by watching his father make ivory carvings. Osuitok was one of the earliest carvers to create stone sculptures for export in the early 1950s and was instrumental in developing a printmaking program in Kinngait (Cape Dorset). Osuitok’s sculpture is known for its delicate detail, and his subjects are often precariously and harmoniously balanced on a small base. He created realistic animals and female figures, but his range of expression could also be abstract. The elegance of his work was much emulated but seldom matched.