Lot 48
KIAKSHUK (1886-1966) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Family of Whales, 1961 #10

Printmaker: IYOLA KINGWATSIAK (1933-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
stencil print, 19 x 25 in (48.3 x 63.5 cm)
2/50

Provenance
Private Collection, Australia.

While this print is called Family of Whales, the beasts presented resist any easy identification. We note that only one of the creatures, the smallest of the six figures, has any whale-like attributes. The others dance about the page with seal-like bodies and birds’ heads. Regardless of their perplexing shapes, Kiakshuk’s creatures have an easy fluid form that is most attractive. The general softness achieved in the stencil process keeps the forms gently modeled to suggest that these creatures have a sense of volume. The tonal variation of the inks presents the sense that their grey bodies shimmer and glisten while they swim.