...
|
 |
|||
 |
 |
|||
| Artist
Biography ... Born in 1943 near Garry Lake in the central Arctic, Nick Sikkuark spent the first years of his childhood absorbing the traditional culture and spiritual beliefs of the Netsilik, of which he was a member. Orphaned when he was nine, he was informally adopted and educated by Roman Catholic missionaries based in Gjoa Haven, and later attended bible classes at a seminary in the South. Since 1968 he has been a resident of the small Netsilik community of Kugaaruk (formerly Pelly Bay). Although he first came to artistic prominence in the 1980s and 1990s as a sculptor, his earliest works were drawings, a form he returned to in 2003. ... Unlike many Inuit graphic artists of the early generation, Sikkuark adheres to the compositional conventions of uniform perspective, spatial recession and an elevated viewing position, creating works of great dynamism. In many images, barely discernible objects or figures appear on the distant horizon that separates the land (or sea) from the sky, strongly pulling the viewer's eye into the depth of the composition. Such works evoke the vast expanses of the Arctic as few images have managed to do. ... Sikkuark often presents nocturnal landscapes, a preference that is unsurprising given that he lives in a region where darkness prevails for many months of the year. Many of the most dramatic works include sunsets and illuminated cloouds. Those works that portray the landscape in full daylight are often marked by a surreal dreamlike quality. ... Although his technique is on the whole naturalistic, Sikkuark's imagery often is not. Imaginary creatures, at once whimsical and frightening, appear on the ground in many images; in others, disembodied shamans swirl through the sky at terrific speeds, leaving behind comet-like trails of vapour. In a few works, the landscape itself assumes a fantastical form.  |
Selected
Press Gallery Exhibitions
Selected Other Exhibitions Public Collections ... Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, ON) National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON) Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg, MB) Publications Selected References Gallery Information |
|||||||||||||||
 |
 |