Joy Hallauk — Heads

About Joy Hallauk

Joy Kiluvigyuak Hallauk
(1940- )
Inuit
Arviat, Nunavut Territory, Canada
Joy began carving in the mid-60s, and she says Arviat carver John Attok was her teacher. She prefers stone to antler and her favourite subject matter is people, often a mother and child group. Also an avid seamstress, she likes the creative freedom of making wall-hangings, and still makes traditional clothing from skins and duffle. Joy was married to the late Luke Hallauk, who was also a well known carver.
“Kiluvigyuak depicts maternal or multiple head motifs in stone, using small axes and files. The bulky volumes of her figures, with their juxtaposed rounded and angular masses, present dynamic as well as powerful images. Kiluvigyuak also produces exquisite dolls and is probably the most gifted maker of appliqué wall-hangings in Arviat. Her wall-hangings generally consist of rows of figures with carved antler faces, dressed in traditional bleached caribou skin clothing decorated with elaborate bead trim, sewn onto duffle cloth. Her largest such wall-hanging measures fourteen-by-four-and-one-half feet.”
Ingo Hessel. In “North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary” 1995.