…although we think this sculpture - below - looks more like ‘playing hockey’ than ‘watching Northern Lights’, and so is an appropriate homage to les Canadiens in the playoffs.

Mattiusi Iyaituk, Watching Northern Lights. Image: spiritwrestler.com

We think the time is right for First Nations art to attract renewed interest - there’s a lot of new and excellent sculpture and drawing around - for instance the Sobey Art Prize-winner Annie Pootoogook.

You can find great Inuit art at Feheley Fine Arts in Toronto: Click HERE.

“Iyaituk’s sculptures are the most valuable - and the biggest selling - of all Quebec Inuit artists working today. His pieces have been exhibited in major galleries and museums across Europe, in Canada, the United States and in Asia. They’re sought by private collectors and are permanently installed in public buildings.”

Mattiusi Iyaituk, Inuit Game Skipping Skin and Rope. Image: spiritwrestler.com

Mattiusi Iyaituk, A Boy Jumps in the Air. Image: spiritwrestler.com

“”My work is quite different from others’,” Iyaituk said. “I have to give people an idea of what they’re about. But they have the freedom to dream.”

Some of his most moving works represent his blind mother, Tukai, her arms made of caribou antler outstretched in gestures of generosity, her long tresses - here of fine muskox hair - tied at one side of her head.”

Mattiusi Iyaituk, We Used to Sell Skins to the Store. Image: spiritwrestler.com

Mattiusi Iyaituk, Self Portrait: Mattiusi Trying a String Game (Ajaraaq). Image: spiritwrestler.com

Read the rest of the story from the Montreal Gazette, HERE.

Mattiusi Iyaituk is represented by Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver. Click HERE.