www.spiritwrestler.comPootoogook learned to carve from his master carver father, Lukta, and has been sculpting for many years. He also was a printmaker for eight of the Cape Dorset annual print collections and studied in the jewellery program at Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit. Pootoogook has exhibited widely and was included in the 1989 "Masters of the Arctic: An Exhibition of Contemporary Inuit Masterworks" that toured for many years.--------------------son of Lukta------"I like carving owls. I have seen owls done by my grandfather, Kiakshuk, in books. I do not remember him, as I was too young. I have also watched as my father, Lukta, carves owls. It is good that owls continue to be carved through the generations in our family. This owl is a young owl. The owl is screeching for food, as it is hungry. It is standing at the nest stretching its wings. The wings are still weak, so the owl cannot fly. The owl is waiting for food from the mother owl. Owls are a favourite subject for me in my carvings and jewellery."--------------I was born in Cape Dorset (Kingait). I started carving when I was young after watching my father, Lukta work at his carving. Ancient masks are my favorite images, because the images reflect the Inuit Culture, it is genuine in its own reflection of Inuit ways and people. As a tradition, people would tattoo their faces and other parts of their body, and I enjoy using this imagery in my artwork. I studied as a Printmaker for eight years at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-op and graduated from the Arctic College Jewellery and Metalwork Program. Currently, I am studying Goldsmithing at the Arctic College and living in Iqaluit with my wife and children. -----------

Exhibitions

• Arctic Forms - Inuit Sculpture, Arctic Inuit Art Gallery
• Art Inuit, Galerie Saint Merri
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chapelle de la Visitation
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Galerie Humbert
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at La Halle aux Bles
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Thonon les Bains
• Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de l'Europe
• Art Inuit, l'Art des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Maison Falleur, Cambrai
• Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Centre d'Action Culturelle du Bassin Houllier, Lorrain, Saint Avold
• Art Inuit: Autour de la Collection de Cape Dorset 1991, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Le Colombier
• Cape Dorset Print Collection (printmaker) *88, (annual collection)
• Cape Dorset Sculpture, Eskimo Art Inc.
• Die Kunst aus der Arktis, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, presented by Commerzbank
• Glaciopolis: Art Inuit, Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Maison de Pesey
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (first exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture Exhibition (second exhibition), Vancouver Inuit Art Society
• Images of Influence: Contemporary Inuit Art, Surrey Art Gallery
• In Cape Dorset We Do It This Way: Three Decades of Inuit Printmaking, McMichael Canadian Art Collection
• Inuit Art at Rideau Hall, Presented by Indian Affairs and Northern Development
• Inuk, Inuit: Art et tradition chez les esquimaux d'hier et d'aujourd'hui, presented by L'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai, at Musee des Beaux-arts d'Arras
• Keeping Our Stories Alive: An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
• Kunst van de Inuit Eskimo's, Gemeentelijk Kunstcentrum Huis Hellemans
• Lukta and Pootoogook Kiakshuk of Cape Dorset: Father and Son, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Masters of the Arctic: An Exhibition of Contemporary Inuit Masterworks, Presented by the Amway Corporation at the United Nations General Assembly
• Sculpture from Cape Dorset - The New Generation, The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
• Sculpture Inuit, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Sculpture Inuit, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Sculpture of the Inuit: Major Works by the Masters of Stone, Maslak McLeod Canadian Art
• Spirit of the Birds, Gallery of the Arctic
• The Treasured Monument, Marion Scott Gallery
• [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Chambre de Commerce de Chateauroux
• [L'art inuit], Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai at Palais de L'Europe, Le Touquet

Collections

• Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada
• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
• Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull
• Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg