Spring is finally here, and we're thinking about new beginnings as this season starts. From images of birds protecting their nests to sculptures of people looking for eggs, Inuit art is full of egg imagery across mediums. Check out the following selection from IAQ staff!
Helen Kalvak Crows Defending their Nest (1969) Stonecut [46.4 x 60.3 cm] COURTESY WADDINGTON’S AUCTIONEERS AND APPRAISERS, TORONTO © THE ARTIST
Crows Defending their Nest (1969)
Helen Kalvak’s print Crows Defending their Nest (1969), to me, is the epitome of tuluaraqtuaq, a Sallirmiutun word meaning “swoops at someone or an animal.” The dark crow on the left has swooped toward the two burgundy figures seeking its eggs and is perched on a smaller branch with wings threateningly outstretched. Yet I cannot help but find humour in the print as well, as my mind struggles to view the braid encircling the eggs as a nest and not protective but absurdly curved wings, as though the crow on the right means to carry them away on foot. Paired with how the woman’s amauti hangs off her as she is suspended upside down on an improbably thin branch, reminiscent of an opossum, Kalvak’s print highlights the more chaotic side of egg hunting.
Mabel Nigiyok Nesting In Spring (1994) Stencil [45.7 x 55.9 cm] COURTESY DAVIC ART GALLERY © THE ARTIST
Nesting In Spring (1994)
Mabel Nigiyok sets a serene scene in her print Nesting In Spring (1994). The varied poses of the six swans near the lake highlight their elegant necks and snowy plumage. Swans typically mate for life, and I imagine that these pairs mirror each other: one aloft, one afloat, and one nesting. The swan on the bottom right is likely the clutch’s mother, having returned from feeding or preening to resume laying atop her eggs to keep them warm. With the orange glow peeking over the mountains in the background, this print calls to mind the contentment of steady and unharried days, of tending to oneself and one’s family before the excitement that hatchlings bring.
TIFFANY RADDI
Assistant Editor
Shuvinai Ashoona Hatched (2007) Lithograph [57.2 x 76.2 cm] COURTESY IAF © THE ARTIST
Hatched (2007)
Hatched (2007) by Shuvinai Ashoona feels like just part of a story. With no animals in sight, we are left wondering what happens next. I am mesmerized by the fine lines of the dense nest. I can almost feel the coarseness of the golden brown twigs, contrasted by the smoothness of the light blue shell at the centre of the print. The twigs beneath the egg are a faded brown, almost grey, subtly drawing my eye to the jagged broken shell, the starting point of an unknown creature’s life. Hatched is much simpler in content and style than some of Ashoona’s other works, but it still conveys her sense of nature and prompts viewers to ask questions.
Idris Moss-Davies Egg Gatherer (n.d.) baleen, ivory, stone [20.3 x 10.2 x 3.8 cm] COURTESY IAF © THE ARTIST
Egg Gatherer (n.d.)
The word that comes to mind when I look at Idris Moss-Davies’s Egg Gatherer (n.d.)is “elegant.” The soft curves and ivory and black baleen of this sculpture are the two elements that immediately strike me. I love how the sculpture is grounded in stone and the shape gradually widens upward, creating a swooping curve of the hair that suggests this figure is otherworldly. Moss-Davies has sculpted a serene-looking face into the egg-shaped head. The stark contrast of the white and black makes the piece all the more eye-catching. The eggs in the figure’s hand are small, so small that they might even be overlooked. With an outstretched hand, the person seems to be offering the eggs to someone.
MELISSA KAWAGUCHI
Associate Editor
Billy Gauthier I Hope He Gets a Lot of Eggs (n.d.) serpentine, whalebone, ivory, sinew, antler [10.2 x 10.2 x 8.9 cm] COURTESY IAF © THE ARTIST
I Hope He Gets a Lot of Eggs (n.d.)
Egg art is ubiquitous across world cultures. Some people have rituals and spiritual beliefs that are rooted in egg imagery or egg motifs, with its obvious connections to fertility and new life. There is also an inherent aesthetic appeal to eggs: they’re rounded, soft, delicate, balanced, and symmetrical. There is probably a mathematical formula that goes with a neurological explanation that explains what draws us to the shape of an egg. I think I get that same kind of dopamine hit when I see miniature sculptures as well. So Billy Gauthier’s sculpture I Hope He Gets a Lot of Eggs (n.d.), hits my neurons with multiple points of enjoyment. The tiny details of the piece are impressive enough, but factor in the lengths people will go to collect the protein-packed food source that eggs provide, and this work speaks volumes. Especially when throwing into the mix my fear of heights and the idea of scaling a slippery, rocky cliff for some delicate and bespeckled ovoid snacks.
James Aningayou Bone Goose on Nest (2022) ivory and baleen [11.4 x 12.7 x 11.4 cm] © THE ARTIST PHOTO COURTESY BASKETS OF TIME
Bone Goose on Nest (2022)
As an Inuk from the Eastern Arctic, my primary exposure to Inuit art has been from my region. We have a lot of geese, and also a lot of goose art, but I am used to monotone sculptures of Canada geese, rendered in stone, dancing or protecting their nests. In James Aningayou’s Bone Goose on Nest (2022) I was thrilled to see the mixed-media goose nesting in bone with a single tiny ivory egg and a clearly black head and neck and white inlay of polished ivory for the chin accent and the body. The colour block look of the Canada goose is such a distinctive feature; it’s a pleasure to see it well done in art and calls attention to the importance of form and material in how an artwork is perceived and appreciated. I revel in the knowledge that we can love a monocolour steatite goose for its finely detailed webbed feet or minutely carved ruffled feathers and be equally enamoured with the simple and sleek shine of polished baleen against the stark cream of ivory that jumps out at our senses in a piece like Aningayou’s calmly nesting goose.
NAPATSI FOLGER
Tauttunnguaqti