Description
This Sedna Spirit by Palaya Qiatsuk is a great example of Palaya’s interests in Shamanism and his love to carve transformations
Palaya was born in Cape Dorset May 10, 1965 and began carving around 1977. He learned to carve from his father, the well-known sculptor and printmaker, Lukta Quiatsuq. He carved his first two pieces at the age of 12, a bird and a bear. Palaya works in soapstone and bone and carves each sculpture with much attention to detail.
Qiatsuq has demonstrated, lectured, and shown his artwork across Canada, Europe and the United States. He has been employed as a Community Constable for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, at the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, and has served as mayor of his Community, Cape Dorset. He works hard to balance time devoted to his outside job, his carving, and his family.
“I like to carve transformations. That’s one of my favorite (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.
This Sedna Spirit by Palaya Qiatsuk has a mesmerizing quality, taking us into the world of shamanic visions, into a world of transformations.
Biography Palaya Qiatsuk
Also known as Padlaya, Qiatsoo, Qiatsuk.
Born on May 10, 1965 in Cape Dorset, NU. Nationality is Inuit
Exhibitions
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
2001 Small Sculptures By Great Artists, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
2000 Padlaya Qiatsuk: The Artist’s Hand Inuit Sculpture Portfolio, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC
2000 Seven Emerging Artists From Cape Dorset, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver, Vancouver, BC
1998 Sculpture From The Canadian Arctic, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
1997 Singing & Dancing & Playing, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
1997 Stone & Bonde, The Inuit Master Carvers of the Canadian Arctic, The Northwest Company, Sun Valley Centre for the Arts and
Humanities, Ketchum, ID
1996 Small Sculptures by Great Artists V, Feheley Fine Arts, Toronto, ON
1995 Miniaturen, Inuit Galerie, Mannheim, Germany
1994 The Great Northern Arts Festival, Inuvik, NU
1994 Three Young Carvers From Cape Dorset and Drawing by Aoudla Pudlat, Albers Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993 Sculpture and Graphics from Cape Dorset, Art Space Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1993 The Next Generation – Inuit Sculpture, Gallery Indigena, Stratford, ON
1993 The Theme of Transformation in Inuit Sculpture,The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery, Toronto, ON
1991 Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition, Vancouver Inuit Art Society, Vancouver, BC
1989 Arctic Images: Major Sculptures by Canada’s Leading Contemporary Inuit Artists, D/Erlien Fine Art Ltd, Milwaukee, WI
1989 Masters of the Arctic: An Exhibition of Contemporary Inuit Masterworks, Amway Corporation, United Nations General Assembly, New York, NY
1988 Tundra and Ice: Stone Images of Animals and Man, Orca Aart, Chicago, IL
1987 L’art Inuit, l’Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chambre de Commerce de Chateauroux, France
1986 L’art et la Matiere: Peintures au Sable de Claude Durand – Sculptures d’Art Esquimaux Conseil Municipal, Deauville-Touques, France
1986 A New Selection of Masterful Sculptures from Cape Dorset, Houston North Gallery, Lunenburg, NS
Our Land Transforming: Celebrating the Enduring Spirit of the Inuit, Arctic Raven Gallery, Friday Harbour, WA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
Fall 2005
Palaya Qiatsuk’s Sculptures
The Albers Gallery
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Collections
Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada, MI
Publications
A Passion for the Arctic: The Hans van Berkel Collection
2016 Cunera Buijs
2005 Cape Dorset Sculpture FEATURED PAGE 98, 99
1989 MASTERS OF THE ARCTIC: An Exhibition of Contemporary Inuit Masterworks, Ada, MI, Amway Corporation
