ABRAHAM ANGHIK RUBEN, O.C. (1951-), PAULATUK / SALT SPRING ISLAND, B.C.
Drum Dancing Spirit, 1992
stone, 9 x 12 x 13 in (22.9 x 30.5 x 33 cm)
signed and dated, "ANGHIK 92".

Provenance
Important Private Collection, Canada.

Anghik has drawn inspiration from “Pan-Arctic” (Alaskan, Greenlandic, and eastern Inuit) and even Northwest Coast imagery since the beginning of his career. In Drum Dancing Spirit, the eye shape, large teeth, and the deeply carved lines of the forehead recall the ornamentation found in tupilaq figures from eastern Greenland. Nonetheless, the sculpture is classic Anghik, carved with his usual flair and not a little theatricality. The long, snaky limbs of the figure curl and writhe; the spirit’s life force seems to stir from deep within the stone. A sense of motion pervades the work, heightening the sense of animation as the drummer dances to the beat of his drum.

References: For a similar work see Spirit Drum Dancer, 1983, illustrated in Darlene Wight, Out of Tradition: Abraham Anghik / David Ruben Piqtoukun, (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1989), cat. 16, p. 24. For an early example of Anghik’s Tupilak studies, see First Arts, 12 July 2021, Lot 45.