Polar Bear by Pauloosie Tunnillie

Bio Pauloosie Tunnillie

PAULOOSIE TUNNILLIE

b.1976

Cape Dorset – Kinngait

In typical Inuit fashion, Pauloosie Tunnillie learned to carve by watching elder carvers in the community of Cape Dorset. He is a member of the well-known Tunnillie family. The son of Ashevak Tunnillie and grandson of Tayaraq and master carver Qavaroak (Kabubuwa) Tunnillie, Pauloosie has a style that embraces his elder’s work.

Using indigenous serpentine from Baffin Island, Pauloosie follows the natural rhythms of the stone then highly polishes the piece to obtain a rich and suggestive work of art. His works express a feel for movement and incorporate the inner nature of the particular stone. The artist’s attention to detail, particularly with the bear’s face, is conscious of his father’s approach.

Cape Dorset serpentine ranges in color from light yellow-green to black. Although a hard stone, in skilled hands the serpentine offers the opportunity to achieve flowing forms, lines bold and delicate, as well as glistening, elegant finishes. Sites for finding the stone are many miles east of Dorset.

As a younger artist Pauloosie’s exhibition history is naturally just beginning, although it needs to be noted that his work has been included in group exhibitions in Canada and the United States.