About Palaya Qiatsuq

PADLAYA QIATSUK (PALAYA; QIATSOO)

Date of Birth: May 10, 1965 Male/Female: Male E7-2193

Place of Birth: Cape Dorset

Mother: Pudloo Tawkie
Father: Lukta Qiatsuq

Padlaya was born in Cape Dorset and began carving around 1977. He learned to carve from his father, the well-known sculptor and printmaker, Lukta Quiatsuq. Padlaya works in soapstone and bone and carves each sculpture with much attention to detail.

“I like to carve transformations. That’s one of my favourite (themes) and shamanism…when I do transformation or shamanism carvings (I hope) the younger people will see the carving in a book or in a gallery. I want them to know that these traditions have to be carried out. How do I put this? They have to know that our ancestors had a hard time to live, to hunt… sometimes, they were starving. Those carvings are important to me and I want to show these younger people, and others, that this happened before…” *

* Excerpt from: “Padlaya Qiatsuk: Encouraging Young Carvers to Persevere”
Matthew Fox, Inuit Art Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 1, Spring 2001. Pp. 26 – 28.

EXHIBITIONS:

Our Land Transforming: Celebrating the Enduring Spirit of the Inuit
Arctic Raven Gallery
One Front Street, Second Floor,
POB 2139
Friday Harbour, Washington, U.S.A.
(brochure)

May 1986 A New Selection of Masterful Sculptures
From Cape Dorset
Houston North Gallery
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

July – August 1986 L’art et la Matiere: Peintures au sable de Claude Durand – Sculptures d’Art Esquimaux
Conseil Municipal
Le Comite d’Animation Culturelle
Deauville-Touques, France

October 1987 [L’art inuit] Presented by l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai
At Chambre de Commerce de Chateauroux
France

October 1988 Tundra & Ice: Stone Images of Animals and Man
Presented by Orca Aart at the Adventurers’ Club
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

February 1989 Arctic Images: Major Sculptures by Canada’s Leading Contemporary Eskimo (Inuit) Artists
At D/Erlien Fine Art Limited
Presented by Orca Aart, Chicago
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A.

June 1989 Masters of the Arctic: An Exhibition of Contemporary Inuit Masterworks
Presented by Amway Corporation
At the United Nations General Assembly
New York, N.Y., U.S.A.
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)

June – September 1991 Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (Second Edition)
Vancouver Inuit Art Society
Vancouver, British Columbia

March – April 1993 The Theme of Transformation in Inuit Sculpture
The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery
Toronto, Ontario

June – July 1993 The Next Generation – Inuit Sculpture
Gallery Indigena
Stratford, Ontario

October – November 1993 Sculpture and Graphics from Cape Dorset
Art Space Gallery
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

July 1994 The Great Northern Arts Festival
Held in Inuvik
Northwest Territories

November – December 1994 Three Young Carvers from Cape Dorset and
Drawings by Aoudla Pudlat
Albers Gallery
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

November – December 1995 Miniaturen
Inuit Gallery
Mannheim, Germany
(brochure)

November 1996 Small Sculptures by Great Artists V
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

February – April 1997 Stone & Bone
The Inuit Master Carvers of the Canadian Arctic
The North West Company
Held at Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities
Ketchum, Idaho, U.S.A.

June 1997 Singing and Dancing and Playing
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
(brochure)

November 1998 Sculpture from the Canadian Arctic
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

April 2000 Padlaya Qiatsuk: The Artist’s Hand
Inuit Sculpture Portfolio
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)

October 2000 Seven Emerging Artists from Cape Dorset
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
(brochure)

November 2001 Small Sculptures by Great Artists (November 2001)
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

May – July 2003 The Qiatsuk Family
Canadian Arctic Gallery
Switzerland
(illustrated brochure)

2004 Masterworks III
Canadian Arctic Gallery
Basel, Switzerland

Spring 2005 Cape Dorset Sculpture
Spirit Wrestler Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)

September 2005 Palaya Qiatsuq Sculpture
Albers Gallery
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

September – October 2003 Johnny Lee Pudlat and Palaya Qiatsuk: Sculpture
The Albers Gallery
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

 
March 2005 Momentum
7 Emerging Artists
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia

January – May 2006 In the Shadow of the Sun: Sami and Inuit Art
Art Gallery of Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario

July 2006 Canada House, Canada Day Celebration
London, England

August 2006 Home and Away Gallery
Kennebunkport, Maine, U.S.A.

June 2007 Arctic Birds by Cape Dorset Carvers
Gallery Indigena
Stratford, Ontario

December, 2008 Mini Masterworks II
Spirit Wrestler Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)

Summer 2009 Summer Celebration
Images of the North
San Francisco

October, 2009 – January, 2010 Nunannguaq: In the Likeness of the Earth
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Kleinburg, Ontario

Nov. – Dec., 2009 Masterworks VII
Canadian Arctic Gallery
Basel, Switzerland

December, 2009 Small Sculptures by Great Artists
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated brochure)

May, 2010 Mothers in Inuit Art
Feheley Fine Arts
Toronto, Ontario

May – June, 2010 Polar Bears
Canadian Arctic Gallery
Basel, Switzerland

October, 2010 Arctic Wind III: An Expression of Survival
Coastal Peoples Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated brochure)

October, 2010 Dancing, Drumming, Singing
Canadian Arctic Gallery
Basel, Switzerland

April 2011 Continuum
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia

May – June, 2011 Birds
Canadian Arctic Gallery
Basel, Switzerland

October, 2011 Stone and Paper
Cape Dorset 2011
Native Art Gallery
Oakville, ON
(illustrated catalogue)

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

Fall 2005 Palaya Qiatsuk’s Sculptures
The Albers Gallery
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

COLLECTIONS:

Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada, Michigan, U.S.A.
Winnipeg art Gallery

SELECTED REFERENCES:

MASTERS OF THE ARCTIC: An Exhibition of Contemporary Inuit Masterworks. Ada, Michigan: Amway Corporation, 1989.