Description
This Igloo by Mathewsie Iyaituk from Ivujivik is an earlier (1993) carving from Mathewsie, probably situated between his traditional and more abstract work:
“When you look at my sculpture, you don’t understand all of it. For this reason, you have the freedom to dream. Everyone has opinions about art so I just put titles for each piece and leave the rest for dreams.
I started to do abstract forms in 1979. One day, I was doing a sculpture of a man but I did not like it. So, I just made forms on one side. Since that time, I have been doing sculptures using abstract forms.
I also inlay different materials such as caribou antler, or different colour stone for faces or other details like tools. The inlaying of bone faces is an old form of art used by earlier Inuit sculptors.
My work is in both worlds because the abstract forms I use are considered by many to be a modern way of doing art but combine the abstract forms with the old Inuit technique of inlaying.
Before 1979, I was doing my sculptures like the way I saw it done in Ivujivik, Quebec. I used to put detail on my work like everyone else until I fell in love with abstract form. It makes me feel good to work in abstract form, therefore I know it is the right form of art for me.”
Mattiusi Iyaituk, « Abstract Artist » (Artist’s Statement)
At first glance this carving seems to be just a piece of stone. A piece of stone with, at closer inspection, barely visible the outline of an igloo, hidden and almost lost in a shallow dip in the stone. This carving named Igloo by Mathewsie Iyaituk evokes a lot more than the image of an Igloo. In essence it is a minimalist statement with not much of detail: a lone igloo on what could be interpreted as the planet earth. A lone existence in a vast expanse of emptiness. A strong statement to resilience. Yet, Mathewson has made a wonderful use of the inherit nature of the granite stone. One side bright, snowy, and an igloo barely discernible in the landscape. The other side clad in the darkness of the polar night. Meanwhile , waves in the stone, both carved and suggested by the patterns in the granite stone, insinuate a bitter, unrelenting, cold wind sweeping the desolate landscape.
Igloo by Mathewsie Iyaituk from Ivujivik leaves with its simple forms a lot of room for interpretation.
Biography Mathewson Iyaituk
MATTIUSI IYAITUK (MANUKULUK; MATHEW; MATUISI; IYAITOK; MATIEWSIE; MATIUSIE; MATTIEUSIE)
Born: November 30, 1950
Gender: Male
Disc Number: E9-1939
Place of Birth: Near Cape Smith
Resides: Ivujivik
Sculpture
Exhibitions
An Exhibition of Master Works from Arctic Quebec
Galerie Le Chariot
Arctic Quebec Sculpture
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon
Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Les Chiroux, Centre Culturel de la Wallonie, Liege
Art Inuit, Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie La Poutre, Marseille
Artists of Arctic Quebec
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Beeldhouwkunst van de Inuit (Canada)
by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, France at Amphora Finippon pvba, Sint Andries, Brugge, Belgium
Contact Grandeur Nature: Exposition d’arts amerindien et inuit du Quebec
Ministere de la Sante et des Services sociaux
Drummers
The Guild Shop
Eskimo Art
Embankment Gallery
Espaces Inuit
Maison Hamel-Bruneau
Group Show
Gallery Manfred
Group Show
Images Art Gallery
Group Show
International Art Fair
Group Show
Gallery Phillip
Images from the Arctic
Galerie D’Art Vincent
Images of Influence: Contemporary Inuit Art
Surrey Art Gallery
Images of the Far North
Studio Art Gallery, State University of New York
Images of the Far North
Arctic Artistry (held at the Erie County Fairgrounds)
In Celebration
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Inuit and Inuvialuk Sculptures and Prints by Bill Nasogaluak and Elisha Sanguya
Art Mode Gallery
Inuit Art: Featuring Selected Works of Matiusi Iyaituk
Alaska Shop
Inuit: Eskimo Art of Arctic Canada
Miharudo Gallery
Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo’s
Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum Huis Hellemans
Matiusi Iyaituk: Inuit Sculptor Ivujivik, Arctic Quebec
The Guild Shop
Matiusie Iyaituk
Images of the North
Matiusie Iyaituk
The Beckett Gallery
Matiusie Iyaituk
Gallery Phillip
Matiusie Iyaituk
Inuit Galerie
Matiusie Iyaituk
The Guild Shop
Matiusie Iyaituk Recent Sculptures
Aux Multiples Collection
Mattiusi Iyaituk: Memoire Vive
Centre d’Exposition de Baie-Saint-Paul
Not Just a Dancing Step…
Galerie D’Art Vincent
Nouveau Territoires… 350/500 Ans Apres, Presented at les maisons de la culture Cote-des-Neiges, Notre-Dame- de-Grace, and Rosemont-Petite Patrie
Montreal Recreation and Community Development Service and les Ateliers Visions Planetaire
Recent Acquisitions of Early Inuit Sculpture
Arctic Artistry
Sanaugasi Takujaksat: A Travelling Celebration of Inuit Sculpture
Presented by Canadian Arctic Producers Ltd., with the assistance of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa
Sculpture from Arctic Quebec: The New Generation/Masterworks by five artists
Snow Goose Associates
Share the Vision Philadelphians Collect Inuit Art
Art Space Gallery
Stories in Stone: Sculpture by Matiusie Iyaituk, Ivujivik, Arctic Quebec
Images of the North
Takamit – Canadian Eskimo Art: Selections from Private Collections and the Government of Canada
Organized by La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University
The Bear: Sculpture
Albers Gallery
The First Passionate Collector: The Ian Lindsay Collection of Inuit Art
Winnipeg Art Gallery
The Jacqui and Morris Shumiatcher Collection of Inuit Art
Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, University of Regina
The Oral Tradition
National Museum of Man
Things Made by Inuit
La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec
Three Young Carvers from Cape Dorset and Drawings by Aoudla Pudlat
Albers Gallery
Tundra & Ice: Exceptional Sculpture from Canada
Orca Aart Gallery
Visions of Power
presented by the Earth Spirit Festival at York Quay Gallery and Leo Kamen Gallery
[L’art inuit]
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l’Europe, le Touquet
[L’art inuit]
Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at St. Marcellin
Public Collections
Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Hull
Musee de la civilisation
Quebec City
Musee du Quebec
Quebec City
National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa
Sarick Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg
