Additional Images

Provenance:

Private collection, Toronto, ON

Note:

The joy of hearing stories told by his mother and grandmother about shamanism and traditional beliefs influenced a young David Ruben Piqtoukun and has spawned images recurring throughout the artist's career. In this work Piqtoukun has approached a traditional subject, that of the legend of Lumak.

In the legend, Lumak, a young blind boy, is taken advantage of by his greedy mother, until a loon takes pity on him and restores his eyesight through immersion in the sea. Later Lumak punishes his mother by lashing her to a whale. [1] In the present work Piqtoukun has given us a lively image of Lumak atop the creature, being whisked undersea. Bristling with fine detail and life-like in posture, the work exemplifies Piqtoukun’s mastery of his craft. As elsewhere in the work of Piqtoukun, the eyes of both whale and boy are emphasized by contrasting inlay.

(1) Boas, Frans, The Central Eskimo, (Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1964), 217-218.

Related Works:
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Cat. No. 2007.21.289, Kiviuq Saddleback (Man riding a fish), by David Ruben Piqtoukun.
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