Nick Sikkuark was born in 1943 at Garry Lake in the Back River area (near Baker Lake) in the Keewatin. His life has been one of change and diversity. Orphaned as a child, he was taken in by the Oblate missionary in Gjoa Haven. In 1961 he was sent to attend church school in Winnipeg, and ministry studies in Ottawa in 1963. After deciding not to pursue the priesthood, he returned North in 1965 and lived in a number of different communities, working as a carpenter.

Sikkuark's artistic career began in 1967 in Gjoa Haven and continued in Pelly Bay when he settled there in 1968. He developed an interest in oil painting and graphics while living in Whale Cove in the early 1970s, but resumed his sculpture career in Pelly Bay when he returned in 1974. Sikkuark is an extremely versatile and imaginative artist, using a variety of median in his work, including whalebone, antler, musk ox horn, ivory and occasionally stone. He often adds fur, sinew, teeth and many other materials he finds interesting that provide unique details to his sculpture.

"Bird in Flight"

$785