Northern Rock Susan Gustavison (1999)i started carving when I was nine, working with my father [Kaka Ashoona]. It was all there was to do---we were the only two people in camp, my mother died when i was six. i remember the axe was so dull the stone would break, so i would just keep working on the pieces. But I wasn't chipping in the proper way so it was very frustrating. Eventually my father started to tell me how to use the tools properly.they used hand tools [referring to the past] but we use power tools so we won't damage our arms. With hand tools, you see dents because the stone is cracked or chipped. With power tools, the work can be very smooth and polished. i can still carve using hand tools, but the power tools seem better.----------------The son of artists Mayureak and Qaqaq Ashoona, Ohito learned to carve from his father and from his uncle, Kiawak Ashoona. Ohito began carving when he was about twelve, and his love for the land is evident in his work, which features a wide range of wildlife. Ohito's competence on the land qualified him for accreditation as a Level 1 Outfitting Guide, a rare achievement for an Inuit hunter. In 2002, he received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for the Visual Arts.-----------------------------Cape Dorset Sculpture: Derek Norton & Nigel Readingson of artists mayureak and Qaqaq Ashoonalearned to carve from his father and from his uncle, Kiawak Ashoona. began carving when he was a bout 12, and his love for the land is evident in his work, which features a wide range of wildlife.his competence on the land qualified him for accreditation as a Level 1 Outfitting Guide, a rare achievement for an Inuit hunter.2002 received the national Aboriginal Achievement Award for Visual Arts------------Ashoona, Ohitohttp://www.eskimoart.com/spotlighton.htmlWINNER2002 National Aboriginal Achievement AwardArts & Culture"Dynamic, powerful and energetic" are the words the 16 member jury, comprised of Aboriginal leaders in various fields, used to describe Ohito's work. They then stated that this only begins to describe his work. Furthermore, "Words will never do his carvings justice. Only when you behold the tenderness between a mother polar bear and her cub as created by Ashoona's hands and mind, or watch cold serpentine stone evoke the warmth and caring this artist has watched and then brought forth from his Arctic home and culture, can his skill truly be felt."We couldn't agree more. We have always felt that Ohito, our resident artist carving exclusively for the Eskimo Art Gallery, had a unique talent. Ohito Ashoona is one of the few Inuit artists who consistently carve works that have a relationship with nature; whether it is a bear sneaking up on a seal basking in the sun, a bird of prey guarding her nest, a mother bear walking with her cub, a bear on an ice floe, or two bears playing on the snow. With Ohito's work there is always a story to be told, whereas most other Inuit artists carve single subjects: a bear, or a walrus, or a seal.It is for this reason, and for the quality of the work he does, that Ohito Ashoona was chosen as the winner for the 2002 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards in the Visual Arts category. This very prestigious award is open to all Inuit, Metis and Indian peoples in Canada.When you read Ohito's biography, it will become apparent to you that this man has had a very close relationship with nature, having spent all of his formative years living not in a settlement or community, but at an outpost camp. Here, he lived the traditional Inuit lifestyle in every sense of the word.Although there were short visits into town to buy supplies, for all intents and purposes, he lived and subsisted entirely off the land: fishing, and hunting for seals, walrus, whales and caribou.By his early teens, his destiny was set: he would be an artist like his father (Kaka Ashoona), his grandmother (Pitseolak Ashoona) and others that had gone before him. Unlike many of his peers, Ohito never ceased to nourish his Arctic roots. He would soon become one of the best hunters in the community and a fully certified Outfitting Guide.The love and respect for his culture, the environment and the arctic animals is very apparent in his work. All of his works are creative and his themes optimistic. Life, however, was not always wonderful in the Arctic -- it was a very cruel and harsh existence in one of the most inhospitable environments in the world. That he can portray things so beautifully speaks more about his nature and personality. We hope you will enjoy his works as much as we do.------------  He is the son of artists, Mayureak and Kaka Ashoona and the nephew of Kiawak Ashoona.-------------Recipient of the 2002 Aboriginal Achievement Award for Arts and Culture, Ohito Ashoona is one of Nunavut's premier artists. A member of the distinguished Ashoona family, artistic talent is in his blood. Ohito's experience traveling and exhibiting his work world-wide makes him an excellent role model for the younger emerging artists. He resides in Cape Dorset and spends time as artist-in-residence at Toronto's Eskimo Art Gallery.----www,elcalondon.comCollectionsArt Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario  Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario  University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta  Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba -----------------

Exhibitions

• A Family Tradition: Inuit Art from Canada's Arctic, Presented by Arctic Inuit Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
• Arctic Forms - Inuit Sculpture, Arctic Inuit Art Gallery
• Cold Stones, Warm Hearts: Inuit Art from the Northwest Territories, University of Richmond
• Major/Minor, Marion Scott Gallery
• Ohito Ashoona, Eskimo Art Gallery
• Ohito Ashoona, Eskimo Art Gallery
• Ohito Ashoona, Gallery Indigena
• Small Sculptures by Great Artists III, Feheley Fine Arts
• Songs in Stone, The Arctic Circle
• Sunakutagnuvalautut: Things from the Past, Feheley Fine Arts
• The Year of the Bear, The Arctic Circle
• Tundra & Ice IV, Orca Aart Gallery
• Tundra & Ice: Exceptional Sculpture from Canada, Orca Aart Gallery

Collections

• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa
• University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg

Publications

• AN EXHIBITION OF ESKIMO SCULPTURE, ESKIMO PRINTS AND PAINTINGS OF NORVAL MORRISSEAU — From the Collection Cartier, Montreal, Canada., Author: Art Association of Newport, Publication: Newport, R.I.: Art Association of Newport. (1968)
• CAPE DORSET — A Decade of Eskimo Prints and Recent Sculpture = Dix ans d'estampes esquimaudes et sculptures recentes, Author: National Gallery of Canada, Publication: Ottawa: The National Gallery of Canada (1967)
• CAPE DORSET., Author: Winnipeg Art Gallery, Publication: Winnipeg: The Winnipeg Art Gallery. (1979)
• COLLECTION DE SCULPTURES ESQUIMAUDES APPRECIABLES PAR LE TOUCHER., Author: Canada. Ministere des Affaires indiennes, Publication: Ottawa: Ministere des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien. (1973)
• DAVIE ATCHEALAK — Sculpture, Author: Canadian Arctic Producers, Publication: Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers Cooperative Limited. (1980)
• DIE KUNST AUS DER ARKTIS, Author: Inuit Galerie, Publication: Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany: Inuit Galerie (1981)
• ESKIMO AND INDIAN ART AND ARTIFACTS (SALE 67)., Author: Sotheby Parke Bernet (Canada) Inc., Publication: Toronto: Sotheby Parke Bernet (Canada) Inc., (1982)
• ESKIMO ART, Author: National Gallery of Canada, Publication: Ottawa: The National Gallery of Canada (1951)
• ESKIMO REALITIES., Author: Carpenter, Edmund, Publication: New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. (1973)
• ESKIMO SCULPTURE '69., Author: Robertson Galleries, Publication: Ottawa: The Robertson Galleries. (1969)
• GEORGE ARLUK — Sculpture, Author: Canadian Arctic Producers, Publication: Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers Cooperative Limited. (1980)