Stone Carving

Here we are working on our serpentine stone carvings. We carved the stone by hand, as it would have been done before all the fancy power tools. We were all surprised how soft the stone was and how easily the pieces took shape. Check out the earlier post "Stones that speak" to see the finished art work!

Art Around Town

Many of the students who come to the NAC Jewellery and Metalwork program already work and live as artists. This a sample of work that is being made by some of the students outside of the classroom. Be sure to check back once in a while, as this post will be updated as they bring in more work for us to look at!

Polar Bear

Patrick Aula

Serpentine carving

approx 6" x 10"

Standing Shaman

Silas Qulaut

Antler, wood and stone

approx 12" high

Stones that speak

Traditionally, carvings are the most popular form of Inuit art. We are happy to have had the opportunity to try out our carving skills. Some students are experienced carvers and have been doing it for years, others picked up a chisel for the first time. Here are a few carvings done by our students at the NAC Jewellery and Metalwork program.

Patrick Aula

Kaajuk Kabalik

Joe Macpa

Myles Gauthier

Henry Mike

Silas Qulaut

Our Ancestors

A brief history of the Inuit people and Inuit Art.

The only pre-Dorest artwork found
Ivory replica by Henry Mike

The first Palaeo Eskimo people known to have occupied the northern region of Canada are the Dorset or Tuniit people. They are thought to have come to this region over the Bering Straight and lived here from 800 BC to 1300 AD. The Dorset were large and timid people who first used snow houses (igloos) which they warmed with kudlik (special lamps for burning oil.) Carvings were made for shaman and ritualistic purposes.

Ivory replicas of Dorest carvings

Jutanie

Silas

Patrick



Silas

Joe

The Thule people came in the second migration, around 1100 AD. The mongolian descendants are the direct ancestors of today's Inuit people. The Thule were highly developped whalers and had more advanced technologies, such as dog teams, and bow and arrows. Eventually the Thule pushed the Dorset people out and occupied the area were they had lived all the way east to Greenland. Thule carving were made as toys and games and well as house hold items, like tools and combs.

Ivory replicas of Thule carving

Myles

Kaajuk


Rose

Between 1500 and 1700, there was a little ice age. The oceans froze farther out and for longer periods of time. There were changes in the distribution of animals.The Thule who had lived in large groups along the coastlines, were forced to break into smaller groups and move inland to hunt caribou.

Patrick

The beginning of the Historic Period began in the 1700's when outsiders began to arrive in these parts. Explorers, such as Martin Frobisher, arrived but had little influence on the Thule, as they never stayed too long. Whalers from Europe started coming around 1850, settling here during the long winters and relied on the Inuit for food and harsh winter survival. Later, Traders came to collect furs to sell down south. They traded supplies and food for fur pelts caught by the Inuit. Although traditionally hunters where greatly respected in the communities, trapping became the best way to make money.

During the depression in the 1930's, fur was no longer a desirable commodity and trapper needed a new way to make money. They would trade carvings with outsiders to get supplies. This was a transitional period for Inuit culture and art, as carving changed in function and meaning. They were no longer made for amulets, tools or toys. They became art objects. (There isn't even a word for "art" in Inuktitut!) There was a change in the choice and depiction of subject matter. The carvings became larger, free-standing and decorative, illustrating scenes of everyday life, hunting or animals. They also had more protruding extremities (legs, antlers) as they were no longer carried around by nomadic people. Foreign and untraditional subject matter started appearing in Inuit art, influenced from the outsiders, who also introduced new materials (photography, drawing and watercolours.)

Antler etching (scrimshaw) in the style of the Historic Period

Myles

Henry

Jutanie

Kaajuk

Inuit art was introduced to the south in 1949, with an extremely successful exhibition in Montreal. But we'll save the story of James Houston and his promotion of Inuit art for another day!

Back at it!

Our class January 2010; left to right: Gyu (art history instructor), Partick (seated), Silas, Rose, Kaajuk, Erin (drawing instructor), Myles, Jutanie, Joe, Henry.

Missing: jewellery instructors Kirk and Beata.

Back in class after the holidays, we've been studying Inuit Art History with the lovely Gyu Oh. We've been learning about the history of the people of this region, and the art they made. We have also learned to carve in ivory and engrave into antler just like our ancestors (eccept we have the advantage of power tools!) For many of us, it was our first time carving. The more experienced carvers gave us some good tips and blews us all away with there speed and skill. Besides the constant demand for band aids, we have really enjoyed carving in the studio!

Rose joins us after taking a semster off last year. We are pleased to have her back! It's great to have a bit of female persepective in the classroom :)

Caribou Gyu

Lessons in carving

Rose hard at work

Musk ox Myles

Goofing around in the studio

Silas's ivory mask