Description
An intriguing Mask by Billy Merkosak from Pond Inlet.
Billy Merkosak is a recognized artist from Mittimitalik (Pond Inlet), a small Inuit community located north of Baffin Island in Nunavut, between Kangiqlugaapik (Clyde River) and Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay). He started drawing when he was four years old. Since then, he has explored different artistic media and practices, sculpting whale bones, ivory or driftwood, and using watercolors. Billy Merkosak is one of the few artists in Nunavut who carves masks, along with Tim Pitseolak, Taqqialuk Nuna and Sam Toonoo from Kinngait (Cape Dorset).
This mask by Billy Merkosak has been obtained from a private collector who obtained the carving directly from the artist.
Some organic materials such as walrus ivory and whale bone cannot be exported out of the country. International legislation does not allow us to ship sculptures made from one of these materials out of Canada. Due to the CITES rules with regard to whalebone , this whalebone carving can only be sold within Canada.
