Description
This Bird by Pavinak Petaulassie is a nice example of Pavinak’s talents as a carver. He has captured the seagull with its unfolding wings right at that crouching moment: ready to take flight. The results is a graceful display of motion exhibited through multiple levels of wings, tail, and feet display.
Pavinak Petaulassie passed away in 2019. He was a sculptor from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. Petaulassie first learned to carve from local sculptors and his father in the 1970s. Pavinak’s father, the late Aggeak Petaulassie (1983), was also a carver. His mother, Timangiak, and brothers Qatsiya and Etidlui are artists in Cape Dorset.
Petaulassie most often depicts northern wildlife but has carved human figures such as hunters, mothers, and children. Petaulassie primarily carves in serpentine, favouring stone in laurel to dark green hues. He has stated a preference for carving in stone as he finds it easier to work with than other materials. However, he does incorporate antler elements into some of his works and has on occasion carved composite sculptures from walrus ivory and stone. His style is naturalistic and robust.
Petaulassie’s work is frequently identifiable by his carving technique of linking multiple individuals together from a single piece of stone.
This carving of a Bird by Pavinak Petaulassie nicely captures the alertness of the seagull, ready to take flight. See more about Pavinak’s career in the Biography listed below.
Biography Pavinaq Petaulassie
PAVINAQ PETAULASSIE (PUBINUK; PABWINA; PABINA)
Date of Birth: October 8, 1961 Male/Female: Male E7-1959
Died: July 17, 2019
Place of Birth: Cape Dorset
Mother: Timangiak Petaulassie
Father: Aggeak Petaulassie
Pavinaq’s father, the late Aggeak Petaulassie (1983), was also a carver. His mother, Timangiak, and brothers Qatsiya and Etidlui are artists in Cape Dorset.
“My father used to tell me about carving…I like carving in stone because it is easier to work with.” Pavinaq began carving in the early 1970’s and prefers groupings of birds or walrus, “They are beautiful animals, that’s why.”
From an interview with the Inuit Art Section, November, 1994.
EXHIBITIONS:
March – April 1984 Heritage of the Inuit: Masterpieces of the Eskimo
Colorado Galleries of the Arts
Arapahoe Community College
Littleton, Colorado, U.S.A.
May – June 1991 Mother and Child: Sculpture and Prints
Albers Gallery
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
(illustrated brochure)
November – December 1993 The Treasured Monument
Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
(illustrated catalogue)
December 1993 Small Sculptures by Great Artists II
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
December 2005 – January 2006 Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
December, 2009 Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated brochure)
December, 2010 Survival: Staying Alive in a Harsh World
Images of the North
San Francisco
December, 2010 Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated catalogue)
April, 2011 Flight Across the Tundra
Balzac Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
January, 2012 Small Treasures
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, BC
February, 2018 Small Treasures
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, BC
February, 2019 Life in Stone VI
Steinbrueck Native Gallery
Seattle, Washington
August 2020 Kinngait (Cape Dorset) Sculptures
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
January – February, 2023 20th Annual Small Treasures
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
SELECTED REFERENCES:
Marion Scott Gallery
THE TREASURED MONUMENT: An Exhibition of Small-scale Inuit Sculpture.
Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1993.
