"I do not think out what I will do. My thought comes out while I work. My work expresses my thought."¹

John Tiktak was born at Kareak camp on the west coast of Hudson Bay at a point between Aqviat (Arviat or Eskimo Point) and that of Tikiraqjuaq (Whale Cove) on January, 1916.² Before moving to Aqviat in the 1950s Tiktak would live a traditional Inuit hunting lifestyle.³ He would then move on to live in Kangiqlliniq (Rankin Inlet) in 1958 where he would work in a nickel mine until its closure.^4,5 Tiktak died on June 8, 1981, in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.

Sources differ as to when Tiktak's artistic endeavors started. One starting point for his artistic work was set in 1961.⁶ while another source cites 1963.⁷ The former stating that Tiktak began carving and selling his work to tourists in his spare time and the latter stating that Tiktak's sculpting began the year after the mine closed in 1962. Another source states that Tiktak began carving after a mining accident in 1959 and would produce his artwork in response to his mother's death in 1962.⁸

Similarly to many artists from the Keewatin region Tiktak's work demonstrates an interest in the human figure. He focuses on: solitary figures, mother and child pairings, groups, and pieces in which heads and faces are emphasized.⁹

Tiktak is remembered as a "gentle and highly sensitive man" in whose work the theme of mother and child was prominent. His artwork is viewed as "serene," "simple and moving" highlighting the "maternal bond that is fundamental in Inuit culture."¹⁰

His sculpture is considered distinct from the work of other Inuit artists as his work concentrated on the "generalized form and symbolism."¹¹ Due to that concentration his work has been compared to current European sculpture.¹²

Tiktak is noted for being a "master of both positive and negative space" in his minimalist approach to sculpture that is also notable for its "beautifully rounded shapes" and defined line.¹³ Due to the "rounded shapes and hollows" of Tiktak's work his sculpture has been compared to that of Henry Moore due to his concentration on producing "icon[s]," "form," and "symbols."¹⁴ Henry Moore, in fact, had a Tiktak sculpture in his own art collection.¹⁵

Tiktak was one of the first Inuit artists to have his or her work shown in a catalogued exhibition in a public gallery.¹⁶ The show was held at the University of Manitoba in 1970.¹⁷ He became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1973.

Sources:
1 www.civilization.ca
2 www.ccca.ca
3 www.ccca.ca
4 www.ccca.ca
5 www.canadianencyclopedia.com
6 www.canadianencyclopedia.com
7 www.ccca.ca8 www.marionscottgallery.com9 www.ccca.ca 10 www.marionscottgallery.com 11 www.canadianencyclopedia.com12 www.canadianencyclopedia.com13 www.ccca.ca14 www.canadianencyclopedia.com .15 www.mackenzieartgallery.sk.ca16 www.ccca.ca17 www.canadianencyclopedia.com

Exhibitions

• Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Canadian Arctic Producers
• Canadian Eskimo Art: a representative exhibition from the collection of Professor and Mrs. Philip Gray, Fine Arts Gallery, Montana State University
• Collector's Choice: 1965-1980, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Collectors' Choice - An Exhibition of Important Inuit Sculpture, Waddington Galleries
• Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, presented at the General Assembly Building, United Nations
• Eskimo Narrative, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Eskimo Sculpture, Winnipeg Art Gallery presented at the Manitoba Legislative Building
• Eskimo Sculpture '69, Robertson Galleries
• Eskimo Sculpture from Rankin Inlet, Fleet Gallery
• Eskimo Sculpture: Selections from the Twomey Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• First Annual Collectors' Invitational Exhibition, Inuk 1/Eskimo Art
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (first exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (second exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art, Art Gallery of Ontario
• Im Schatten der Sonne: Zeitgenossische Kunst der Indianer und Eskimos in Kanada/In the Shadow of the Sun: Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art in Canada, Canadian Museum of Civilization
• Inspiration Four Decades of Sculpture, Marion Scott Gallery
• Inuit Art: A Selection of Inuit Art from the Collection of the National Museum of Man, Ottawa, and the Rothmans Permanent Collection of Inuit Sculpture, Canada, National Museum of Man, Ottawa and Rothmans of Pall Mall Canada Ltd.
• Inuit Images in Transition, Augusta Savage Gallery, University of Massachusetts
• Inuit Masks, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Inuit Masterworks, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Inuit Masterworks: Selections from the Collection of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, McMichael Canadian Collection
• Inuit Sculpture 1974/Sculpture Inuit 1974, Lippel Gallery
• Mother and Child: Selections from the Inuit Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Gallery of Ontario
• Moving Around the Form: Inuit Sculpture and Prints, Agnes Etherington Art Centre Queen's University
• Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel, Burnaby Art Gallery
• Outstanding Examples of World Art,
• Pure Vision: The Keewatin Spirit, Norman McKenzie Art Gallery
• Rankin Inlet/Kangirlliniq, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Recent Acquisitions of Early Inuit Sculpture, Arctic Artistry
• Sculpture, Canadian Eskimo Arts Council a competition/exhibition organized as a contribution to the Centennial of the N.W.T.
• Sculpture Inuit: Stone/Bone circa 1960-1979, Canadiana Galleries
• Sculpture of the Inuit: Masterwork Exhibitors of the Canadian Arctic, Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
• Sculpture/Inuit: Masterworks of the Canadian Arctic, Canadian Eskimo Arts Council
• Selections from the John and Mary Robertson Collection of Inuit Art, Agnes Etherington Art Centre Queen's University
• Share the Vision Philadelphians Collect Inuit Art, Art Space Gallery
• Stones, Bones, Cloth, and Paper: Inuit Art in Edmonton Collections, Edmonton Art Gallery
• Takamit - Canadian Eskimo Art: Selections from Private Collections and the Government of Canada, Organized by La Federation des Cooperatives du Nouveau-Quebec and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University
• The Eskimo Art Collection of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto-Dominion Bank
• The Jacqui and Morris Shumiatcher Collection of Inuit Art, Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, University of Regina
• The Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art from the Art Gallery of Ontario, University of Guelph
• The Mulders' Collection of Eskimo Sculpture, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Spirit of the Land, The Koffler Gallery
• The Swinton Collection of Inuit Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• The Williamson Collection of Inuit Sculpture, Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, University of Regina
• The Zazelenchuk Collection of Eskimo Art, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Tiktak: Sculptor from Rankin Inlet, N.W.T., Gallery 111, School of Art, University of Manitoba
• Tundra & Ice: Exceptional Sculpture from Canada, Orca Aart Gallery

Collections

• Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston
• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton
• Eskimo Museum, Churchill
• Inuit Cultural Institute, Rankin Inlet
• Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
• Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
• Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal, Montreal
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Red Deer and District Museum and Archives, Red Deer
• Toronto-Dominion Bank Collection, Toronto
• Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
• Williamson Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg