Susie Silook Qavaanguq

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Susie Silook: Qavaanguq

Susie Silook, one of the most original artists to come out of Alaska, created a major piece based on a dream she had:

“I dreamt I was in the bow of a boat with an unidentified man at the helm, and the land in front of us felt like home. We saw movement to the left, front, and I got worried that a whale would overturn the boat. The whale breached, backwards, from our left, and somersaulted over us, entering the water on our left. My heart was pounding like mad!

The man said I had to kill it, and I was vehemently refusing, but he said :”if it offers itself to you, you have to take it. You have to make the sacrifice

So in the end the bowhead is draped over the boat like a big fish

This depiction of the dream includes the whale in two positions simultaneously: morphing from the human head and emerging from the human feet. It includes a second human emerging from the torso and spirit figures painted across the body.

Carved from whalebone and mammoth ivory; blue and sienna pigments; wood and brass base.

41 3/4″ across; 37 3/8” high, including base