From September 17 through November 5, 2011, True North Gallery presents “The Inua in the Stone: Inuit Carvings from the Canadian Arctic.” This show features sculptures carved from serpentine, basalt, dolomite, argillite, and steatite, and represents the work of artists from communities such as Cape Dorset, Sanikiluaq, Inukjuak, Iqaluit, Pangnirtung, Gjoa Haven, and Igloolik. Subjects range from naturalistic arctic wildlife to mythological pieces, such as transformations, in which animals and shamans are depicted as changing into one another.
In Inuit mythology, an inua is a spirit or soul that exists in people, animals, plants, landscapes, waterways, and all other matter. From this animistic perspective in which everything and everyone shares the mystery of a soul, stones are no exception—they each have their own inua, too.
The work in “The Inua in the Stone” highlights Inuit artists’ ability to create carvings that feel as if they embody a spirit, or inua. The show is also about the stones themselves—their colors and patterns, their hardness or softness, and the way they seem to yield to the artists’ shaping or rebelliously resist, forcing collaborative compromise between carver and stone. And finally, the work asks us to think about the mysterious relationship between the animate and that which we often perceive as inanimate.
Featured in the show is a large dancing musk ox by master carver Pitseolak Qimirpiq from Cape Dorset. Carved from serpentine, the musk ox sports the characteristically shaggy coat and curved horns of his species, but stands upright, balancing on only one hoof. The carving is both formidable and graceful. The weight of the musk ox—and the large stone from which it was carved—is evident, and yet its dancing pose adds movement and fluidity. The carving embodies humor as well, in the very notion of a dancing 600-pound musk ox. Its endearingly large hoofs, textured coat, handsome snout, and friskiness all work together to coax both the form and spirit of a musk ox out of a massive chunk of dark grey-green serpentine the artist dug out of the arctic landscape.
Also included in the show are three striking polar bear carvings by Esa Kripanik. Kripanik is a master carver from Igloolik, and is known for working with a hard, white arctic stone very similar to marble, into which carves surface drawings of other animals. The three polar bear carvings have etchings of seals and other arctic animals on their bodies. All three pieces embody the power and incomparable charisma of “Nanuq,” as well as the importance of his relationship to the other animals (etched on the surfaces) with which he shares his world.
Another distinctive piece in the show is a large shaman bear by Philip Kamekpakeytuq from Gjoa Haven. The bear is carved with wide, open arms, as if ready to embrace—or consume—whomever or whatever looks at him. The carving tapers down dramatically toward its base, as if it were rising out of a genie’s lamp. Carved out of a dark, smoky dolomite and clad in a shaman’s coat, Kamekpakeytuq’s bear radiates an ancient and dusky spirit.
In his book, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, religious scholar Mircea Eliade described an Inuit shamanic initiation practice in which the shaman goes to a quiet place and rubs two stones together while waiting for a spiritual experience. This ritual speaks poetically to the work in “The Inua in the Stone.” For the Inuit carvers, just like the shaman initiate, working with stones is a way to invite the spirits to join us.
The Inua in the Stone: Inuit Carvings from the Canadian Arctic, September 17 through November 5, 2011
All works are available for purchase.
True North Gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday 12 to 5 PM and Sundays by chance or appointment.
True North Gallery• 25 Woodbury Street• South Hamilton, MA 01982
For additional information call (978) 468-1962 or email gallerydirector@truenorthgallery.net
Nunataks in the Mist: Impressions of The Kenai Fjords by Amy E. Stein
Harris Bay by Amy Stein
Last summer, artist Amy Stein, from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, embarked on a sea kayaking trip through Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska. The Kenai Fjords are coastal mountain fjords located on the southeastern Kenai Peninsula. Covered by glaciers as recently as 85 years ago, the spectacular 669,983-acre park is home to hundreds of species of wildlife, including humpback whales, harbor seals, sea lions, sea otters, orcas, bald eagles, puffins, and other northern fauna.
Stein returned from her journey with lasting impressions she has been turning into paintings. Twelve of these paintings comprise “Nunataks in the Mist: Impressions of The Kenai Fjords by Amy E. Stein,” which opens at True North Gallery in Hamilton, Massachusetts, on Saturday, September 17th.
For the past fourteen years, Stein has been painting and showing impressionistic landscapes in oil. She is particularly interested in the concept of “spirit of place,” which refers to the unique and essential aspects of a place. Throughout history, artists, writers, architects, environmentalists, and others have been inspired by “spirit of place” to paint, write, build, worship in, and protect special places. The spirit of a place can help explain why a particular landscape or environmental setting moves us, and why we feel attached to those places.
Stein has experienced the “spirit of place” as both muse and catalyst. The unique qualities of a place—from its aesthetic presentation to the emotional states it evokes—have inspired Stein to try to capture those qualities in paintings. Her paintings, in turn, then act as a catalyst for environmental awareness by connecting people to those places and their special qualities.
Named after isolated mountain peaks known as nunataks— an Eskimo word meaning “lonely peaks,” the paintings in “Nunataks in the Mist” reflect Stein’s deep sensitivity to the land. “The fjords offer a challenging palette of colors and ever-changing light,” explained Belinda Recio, owner of True North Gallery. “Stein skillfully captured the physical attributes of the fjords in all their nuance and majesty. But her paintings go one step further—they ‘take you there’ because they embody something more than just the visual beauty of the fjords. They are imbued with the soul of the place.”
Not many people have seen the Kenai Fjords from a distance, let alone from the intimate vantage point of a sea kayak. Stein’s paintings offer us a rare opportunity to experience the fjords and their beaches, lagoons, glaciers, and bays through the eyes of someone who clearly felt the spirit of place.
September 17 through November 5, 2011
Opening Reception Saturday, September 17, from 3 to 6 PM
All works are available for purchase.
Resurrection Bay Seal by Amy Stein