LUCY TASSEOR TUTSWEETOK (1934-2012) ARVIAT (ESKIMO POINT)
Family Group, mid 1970s
stone, 5 x 7 x 1.5 in (12.7 x 17.8 x 3.8 cm)
signed, "ᑕᓯᐅ / ᓗᓯ."

Provenance
An Ottawa Collection.

Family Group reflects both Tasseor’s classic semi-abstract style and her love of family in truly equal measure, but with extra helpings of each! In formal terms the sculpture is supremely elegant: the workmanship and finish are lovely, and the interplay of the figures/faces and the stone matrix is subtle and sensuous. The figure of the mother and the faces of her children are relatively large in proportion to the stone itself; this and the fact that the young ones seem so rambunctious conveys the sense that they are not mere outcroppings but rather constitute the bulk of the stone. In other words, it almost seems as if Tasseor would not have to remove much material to reveal the figures in their entirety. Seen from behind, the outline of the mother’s figure is almost fully formed. Delightful and gorgeous.

References: For similar works see George Swinton, Sculpture of the Inuit, (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972), figs. 607 & 613; Gerald McMaster, ed., Inuit Modern: The Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection, (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2010), p. 159; Walker’s Auctions, May 2015, Lot 64; see also the exhibition catalogue Feheley Fine Arts, Lucy Tasseor: I Turn to Stone, (Toronto, Feheley Fine Arts, 2015).