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However, Ashevak grew up at a time when the establishment of wage-earning settlements rapidly replaced the Eskimo lifestyle and economy. In the past, Netsilik people lived in small communities and worked as nomadic hunters. Since they moved off the land to Spence Bay Taloyoak , they were forced to adopt a southern-style economy such as living in a house and having a stable job.
Ashevak and his wife Doris moved into the settlement in These Inuit carvings were highly appreciated in Ottawa and inspired people's interest in purchasing more sculptures from the region. Therefore, a carving program was funded by the government in Spence Bay, and sculptor Algie Malauskas was hired to teach Inuit some fundamental sculpture techniques.
Ashevak soon joined the program because he could no longer support his family by hunting, and carving was one of the well-paid alternatives to earn a livelihood.
Biography definition and examples
Ashevak's official entrance into the art world was in , where he participated in the Centennial competition in Yellowknife , held by the Canadian Eskimo Art Council. Ashevak's sculptures, Bird and Drum Dancer won third prize and an honourable mention respectively. The show was financially successful in which about 30 pieces of Ashevak's sculptures became trendy among the public and sold well.
However, this exhibition did not make Ashevak famous. In , Karoo Ashevak settled in Taloyoak where his career began through an arts and crafts program sponsored by the government. His style evolved into the well-known "expressionistic style" in the Kitikmeot area in the early s. His works are inspired by stories told to him in his childhood by his father.
Many of his sculptures have wide noses, gaping mouths, and uneven eyes. His art is admired for this originality and abnormal appearance. While some people praised his work, others considered it too grotesque. The majority of his artistic production occurred from to During this time, he was unknown in the art market, nonetheless, he held several exhibitions where his work appealed to the majority and sold in mass amounts.
He was first noticed in Yellowknife when he entered the Centennial competition in organized by the Canadian Eskimo Art Council. It was not until his late artistic career that he gained recognition. He is now acknowledged as an important artist in Canadian Inuit art. He was not exclusively recognized until spring of when Avrom Isaacs used Karoo's sculptures in a one-man exhibition at the Inuit Gallery in Toronto.
Despite its success, it did not make him famous he was mainly known to those associated with Eskimo art. Finally, in January , his exhibition at the American Indian Art Centre in New York established his local fame and overall reputation in the eastern U. This marked the height of his career, just a year prior to his death. In the s, Ashevak favoured and used predominantly aged whale bones as his medium.
During his artistic years, whale bones would be imported to the community through charter planes from Somerset Island because this material was sparse while demands were higher than the inventory. They were not readily available in Spence Bay and many other carvers were seeking it for their artistic production. Historically, bones were used in Taloyoak to make tools and weapons.
It was not until the settlement began its carving production that bone was used as the main medium, with whale bone being the material used for the first carving produced. Karoo Ashevak also known as Mungnelli was born in in the Kitimeot, central Arctic region, of what is now known as Nunavut.
He lived in the community of Taloyoak, near Spence Bay. He grew up following the traditional Inuit lifestyle and beliefs. It was not until the settlement began its carving production that bone was used as the main medium, with whale bone being the material used for the first carving produced. Both the prehistoric Thule people and the later colonialist European whalers left mass amounts of whale bone.
These aged bones experienced inconsistent and prolonged exposure from Arctic conditions. This altered their qualities and features, such as their density and colour. If the material is partially aged or dried, it may smell or shrink while working with the material.
Karoo ashevak biography definition wikipedia
Whale bone is a diverse and varied medium that can be found in colors from white to cream, to brown, to nearly black. Additionally, bone ranges from very dense to extremely fragile. The material may also transform from one density to another, requiring great skill and adaptability from the artist. For example, sometimes bone can become extremely hard to the point that it is nearly impossible to carve.
Whale bone may also crack or split before, during, and after carving. Cracks that occur during the production process can be integrated into the final piece; however, splits that appear after carving often destroy the piece. Ashevak's choice of medium could have been a result of limited materials for sculpting in his community or a preference for light materials, rather than heavy mediums such as stone or ivory.
Ashevak would first come up with an idea for a sculpture before selecting the medium to use.
Karoo ashevak biography definition
He also tended to rearrange and reform bone from different parts of the whale, choosing to prioritize design concept, rather than staying within the bounds of a certain piece of bone. For example, Ashevak is known to have incorporated whale baleen in forming the eyes and mouths of his sculptures. According to Leon Lippel, Ashevak's sculptures evoked an overwhelmingly affirmative response at his own time.
Inuit sculptures followed a narrative tradition by depicting legends, events or social activities that were well known among Inuit communities. In contrast, Ashevak's sculptures abandoned this illustrative tradition.
Karoo ashevak biography definition and examples
Therefore, Ashevak's work could speak to the audience who did not have any knowledge of the Inuit culture and attract the audience based on its purely aesthetic values. First, his sculptures were strongly appealing to non-Inuit art collectors, including those who did not regularly collect. Second, people were astonished by Ashevak's work and reacted immediately with tremendous enthusiasm.
Ashevak's sculptures present a fantasy of spirits and supernatural beings bursting with powerful emotions. His figures embody wide eyes, gaping mouths, distorted body features and incised lines, which are directly related to Inuit religion shamanism. In contrast to the helping spirits, evil spirits attack or eat humans, and they would bring misfortune and disasters to the community.
Another favourite subject of Ashevak's sculptures are birds.
Biography examples for students: Karoo Ashevak (Inuktitut: ᑲᕈ ᐊᓴᕙ) ( – October 19, ) was an Inuk sculptor who lived a nomadic hunting life in the Kitikmeot Region of the central Arctic before moving into Spence Bay, Northwest Territories (now Taloyoak, Nunavut) in [1].
Birds are associated with the angakkuq 's magical flights. During their magical journeys, angakuit fly into the sky, the land of the dead, and even to the homes of ancient Inuit deities. Ashevak untitled most of his works, but one of the very few sculptures which had a title was directly related to shamanism. In the Inuit culture , one needs to take an apprenticeship to become a angakkuq.
The angakkuq candidate needs to receive formal training from an elder, which helps him gain skills and powers that are necessary to fulfil his future position. For all others who have useful information about this artist, please email the information to registrar askart. Please note: All biographies will be fully viewable on Fridays, but the rest of the week biographies are available only to subscribers.
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