THOMAS SIVURAQ (1941-) QAMANI'TUAQ (BAKER LAKE)
Standing Woman, c. 1980
stone, 14 x 9 x 5.25 in (35.6 x 22.9 x 13.3 cm)
signed, inscribed with artist's disc number and father inscribed, "ᓯᐳᒐ E2-236 / B.L. N.W.T."

Provenance
Waddington’s Auction, Toronto, June 1995, Lot 815;
Private Collection, USA

The half-brother of Peter Sevoga, Thomas Sivuraq had a distinguished career as both a stone sculptor and as a printmaker working at the Sanavik Co-op in the 1970s. Sivuraq’s sculptures are general smaller in scale than Sevoga’s, but what they lack in size they make up for in execution and dynamic movement. Standing Woman, however, possesses both qualities in spades. Technically she is simply “standing” but she is clearly girding up her loins for action. Built – or at least dressed – like a linebacker, she seems ready to take on the world. Standing Woman is a force to be reckoned with; seldom have we come across a figure displaying so much pent-up strength and determination.

References: For important works by the artist see Darlene Coward Wight, The Jerry Twomey Collection, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2003), p. 87; Maria von Finckenstein ed., Celebrating Inuit Art 1948-1970, (Gatineau: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1999), p. 169; Winnipeg Art Gallery, The Zazelenchuk Collection of Eskimo Art, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978), cat. 40; Darlene Coward Wight, The Faye and Bert Settler Collection, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2004), p. 90.