Northern Rock Susan Gustavison (1999)I started in 1980 or 81, when I was ten or eleven. My father drowned when i was nine and my mother used to be away from town, so i needed money to support myself. I learned from my grandfather, Kopapik Ragee. he never talked about it, I just watched---it is the traditional way. he would whisper to himself as he worked and I'd listen. ...I also used to watch Shortie kilitee [stepfather]. I'd see them make so many different pieces ---seals and birds with wings, fish----I'd put all this together in my mind and make my own ideas.----------------------www.spiritwrestler.comToonoo's parents, Josephee Sharky and Ragee Killiktee, were both carvers, though he credits his grandfather Kuppapik Ragee and his uncle Shorty Killiktee as influences. Toonoo started carving at ten, began to get serious at thirteen and first exhibited when he was just seventeen. He is regarded as one of the most exciting young carvers to emerge in the Arctic. His themes include fanciful and quite dramatic treatments of wildlife, particularly birds, and transformational works that are both powerful and humorous. His work is widely shown, and he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy in 2003.-------capedorset.caToonoo was born in the Iqaluit hospital and has lived in Cape Dorset all his life. At the age of nine, his father died and Toonoo was soon eager to learn how to carve as a way to support himself. Although he is a self-taught carver, Toonoo learned a lot about carving by watching his grandfather, Qupapik Ragee. "[My grandfather] never talked about it, I just watched — it is the traditional way." Toonoo is one of few third generation sculptors to be internationally renowned, and his wok reflects his confidence. His willingness to embrace new challenges and learning experiences has permitted Toonoo to travel south many times. Toonoo feels his work has continued to improve over the years. He considers himself a "full-time" carver. When asked who are some of his favorite Inuit artists Toonoo replied, "I used to like Kiawak [Ashoona] but now I like my own." Toonoo's favorite subjects to carve are birds such as a hawk with a fish or lemming, and animal/humans spirit transformations. He decides what to carve by the shape of the stone, and prefers the light green serpentine quarried nearby at Markham Bay. Toonoo acknowledged that he was starting to work in larger-scale sculpture, and expressed an interest in undertaking a large commission someday.-------------Both Toonoo and Napachie are comparatively young artists, born in 1970 and 1971 respectively. They have incorporated the best of the traditional world, which was a major factor of the initial appeal of Inuit sculpture, with modern sensibilities and a wholehearted embrace of the technical abilities that modern sculpting techniques have put at their disposal. Their command of both the creative impulse and the expertise of working in the luscious varieties of the local serpentine stone are revealed with each sculpture. Another much anticipated occurence in the Arctic is the arrival of spring and summer and there exists in all of these works an exuberance of spirit that frequently raises a sense of a fine summer day. Most of the works imply some aspect of spring and summer by the very nature of their subject matter, the profusion of birds that is an intrinsic aspect of the Arctic summer, the fishing to be done in the freshly flowing streams and the playing outside at long last.------SculptureToonoo is the son of the late carver Josephee Sharky and Ragee Killiktee, who carves once in a while.His brothers, Napatchie and Alasua are also carvers.He lives with Mary Saila and they have adopted a child.Toonoo has been carving since age 10 and it is his only source of income.He prefers the colors and textures of serpentine stone and marble.Toonoo also enjoys hunting and spending time with his family.His work has been included in exhibitions across Canada and the U.S. as well as France and Germany.---------At the age of 32, Toonoo Sharky is already one of the most sought after sculptors in Cape Dorset. His wild and challenging transformations and his powerfully graceful birds are coveted by collectors around the world, earning him a solo exhibition in Mannheim, Germany in 1992.------------- He lives and works in the community of Kinngait [Cape Dorset], on the southern coast of Qikiqtaaluk [Baffin Island], Nunavut. A third-generation artist, his work is informed by both the past and the present. He explores the concept of shamanic transformation in his sculpture. The shaman or 'human' element, frequently represented by a mask-like face, often appears to be in a state of flux between the natural world and the unknown world of spirits. The primary spirit helper or spirit animal tends to be a strong falcon-like bird or owl. These bird figures are featured on their own as well. Sharkey cites well-known Kinngait artists Kopapik Ragee and Shorty Killiktee, his grandfather and uncle, as having the greatest impact on his work. Carving since he was ten years old, he is a full-time artist who has been exhibiting in Canada, the United States and Europe since 1987.--Toonoo was born in the Iqaluit hospital and has lived in Cape Dorset all his life. At the age of nine, his father died and Toonoo was soon eager to learn how to carve as a way to support himself. Although he is a self-taught carver, Toonoo learned a lot about carving by watching his grandfather, Qupapik Ragee. "[My grandfather] never talked about it, I just watched — it is the traditional way." Toonoo is one of few third generation sculptors to be internationally renowned, and his wok reflects his confidence. His willingness to embrace new challenges and learning experiences has permitted Toonoo to travel south many times. Toonoo feels his work has continued to improve over the years. He considers himself a "full-time" carver. When asked who are some of his favorite Inuit artists Toonoo replied, "I used to like Kiawak [Ashoona] but now I like my own." Toonoo's favorite subjects to carve are birds such as a hawk with a fish or lemming, and animal/humans spirit transformations. He decides what to carve by the shape of the stone, and prefers the light green serpentine quarried nearby at Markham Bay. Toonoo acknowledged that he was starting to work in larger-scale sculpture, and expressed an interest in undertaking a large commission someday.----------------------Toonoo Sharky Baffin Islandborn 1970 - Iqaluit "I dropped out of school in Grade 7. Now I carve, and take otherjobs when I can get them, but maybe it's too difficult to get a job withoutfinishing school. I want to ; back to school for upgrading. I learnedcarving from watching my grandfather. Sometimes he would give me a carvingto finish for him. I could learn more about the old ways if I were to followmy stepfather. I was too lazy when I was young to learn these things. Manyyoung people don't have enough to do, so they use alcohol and drugs. Mostof the time I am happy about my life, but sometimes problems with relationshipsand family make me unhappy."------Resident in Nunavut, Toonoo Sharky is a product of the new Arctic. By the time he was born, his parents and grandparents had been living in the settlement of Cape Dorset for almost a decade. The old camp dwellings, and the life associated with them, had been replaced by prefabricated, northern-style houses, with television, radio, store-bought food, and other modem conveniences. Yet even today life in a northern community remains special in many ways, as people continue to negotiate a path between long-established Inuit practices and southern influences.Sharky left school early to join the Cape Dorset community of artists and work full-time at carving. Though he is still relatively young, his work has been included in many group shows, including the international traveling exhibition Transitions: Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art, which opened in Paris in 1997. Two solo exhibitions - one at the Inuit Galerie in Mannheim, Germany, in 1992, and another at the Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec in Montreal, in 1998 - further enhanced his reputation as an emerging sculptor.The Legend of the Blind Boy offers a fresh perspective on a well-known Inuit legend about a boy whose sight is magically restored through the help of a loon who dives into the water with him on his back. In this sculpture, Sharky presents us not with a particular episode but with an imaginative visual summary of the entire story. On the front, for example, the missing eye on the face symbolizes the boy's blindness, while the normal eye represents his sight regained. The large webbed feet on which the piece balances and the face on the back, framed by wings, refer to the loon, both as living creature and as spirit-helper. The dominant effect is one of integration - the loon, the blind boy, and the magic of their encounter.Sharky learned to carve by observing others around him, in particular his grandfather, Kopapik Ragee, and his stepfather, Shorty Killiktee, both of them accomplished artists in their own right. Yet a world of difference separates his work from theirs. For Sharky's grandfather, carving was a new venture that he came to as an adult, after a lifetime of surviving on the land. Sharky, two generations later, grew up surrounded by artists, though he does not share the same perspectives on life that infuse their art. Coming after the camp life of former times, he rarely deals with it in his carving. What he chooses to create are elaborate composite works that are as much about exploring sculptural possibilities as about Inuit culture. He is best known for pieces that combine Arctic wildlife with human faces or masks. For earlier artists, depicting animals was a way of conveying to a younger generation a lifetime's experience of survival on the tundra; for Sharky, it is essentially a way of connecting with his elders and remembering them: "I really feel that I still carry my grandfather and Shorty with me. When I do fish with human heads, my grandfather is with me, and Shorty is with me when I do birds. But at the same time, I am me, not them. . . . I put them all together in my mind and make my own ideas."-------------www.elcalondon.comCollections Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia  Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba ReferencesInstitute of American Indian Arts Museum  KEEPING OUR STORIES ALIVE: An Exhibition of Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada. Santa Fe, N.M.: Institute of American Native Arts Museum, 1995. Marion Scott Gallery  ARCTIC ICE: SCULPTURES IN MARBLE BY THE ARTISTS OF CAPE DORSET, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1992. Marion Scott Gallery  THE TREASURED MONUMENT: An Exhibition of Small-scale Inuit Sculpture. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1993. Mitchell, Marybelle  SEVEN ARTISTS IN OTTAWA. Inuit Art Quarterly, 6(3) Summer 1991: 6-17.---------- Toonoo Sharky (SOROSEELKTOO   Born: June 5, 1970 Male E7-2729 Resides: Cape Dorset Sculpture Toonoo is the son of the late carver Josephee Sharky and Ragee Killiktee, who  carves once in a while. "My younger brothers, Napachie and Alasua are also  carving", says Toonoo. He lives with Mary Saila, and they have an adopted  child.  "I was influenced by my grandfather Kopapik Ragee, and also by Shorty  Killiktee. The first carving I did was at the age of ten. I think it was a  bird or a seal." Toonoo has been carving ever since and it has been his only  source of income. He likes to carve in serpentine and marble. "I like the  colours and also the textures of both stones. When I'm starting on a piece of stone, I like to slowly work on the piece until the shape starts forming into  a shape I can recognize. Sometimes I just ; by the shape of the stone. My  favourite subjects are bird figures with human faces."  Toonoo's favourite pastimes are carving, hunting, watching television and  spending time with his family. He would also like put together a collection  of his carvings in the near future for his own solo exhibition.   from an interview with the  Inuit Art Section Nov. 1994.  EXHIBITIONS: May - June 1987 [Inuit Art Exhibition] Whitby Arts Incorporated,  The Station Gallery  Whitby, Ontario February 1989 Arctic Images: Major Sculptures by Canada's Leading Contemporary Eskimo (Inuit) Artists  at D/Erlien Fine Art Limited  presented by Orca Aart, Chicago  Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. May 1989 Birds: Sculpture from Cape Dorset & Rock Ptarmigan Limited Edition  Print by Kananginak  The Guild Shop  Toronto, Ontario August 1989 Art Inuit, la Sculpture des Esquimaux du Canada  Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai  at Chapelle de la Visitation,  Thonon  France October - December 1989 Baffin Images Orca Aart  Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. January 1990 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  France March 1990 Art Inuit, l'Art des Esquimaux du Canada Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai  at Maison Falleur, Cambrai  France April 1990 Art Inuit Presented by l'Iglou Art Esquimau, Douai  at Palais de l'Europe  Le Touquet, France June - July 1990 Small Sculptures from across the Canadian Arctic  Feheley Fine Arts  Toronto, Ontario December 1990 New Miniature Sculpture Gallery Phillip  Don Mills, Ontario February 1991 Animals of the Arctic Arctic Inuit Art  Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.  April - May 1991 Inuit Master Carvers Snow Goose Associates  Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. November - December 1991 Second Generation Cape Dorset Carvers Albers Gallery  San Francisco, California, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure) January - March 1992 Images of Influence: Contemporary Inuit Art Surrey Art Gallery  Surrey, British Columbia February - August 1992 Inuit Art on the Mezzanine: New Acquisitions Winnipeg Art Gallery  Winnipeg, Manitoba (illustrated brochure) April - May 1992 Two Young Carvers from Cape Dorset: Toonoo Sharky and Qiatsuq Shaa  The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery  Toronto, Ontario (illustrated brochure) October - November 1992 Arctic Ice: Sculptures in Marble by the Artists of Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories  Marion Scott Gallery  Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue) November - December 1992 Inuit Sculpture--New Acquisitions Pucker Gallery  Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure) November - December 1992 Sculpture Inuit Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec  Montreal, Quebec  March - April 1993 The Theme of Transformation in Inuit Sculpture The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery  Toronto June - July 1993 The Next Generation--Inuit Sculpture Gallery Indigena  Stratford, Ontario October - November 1993 Sculpture and Graphics from Cape Dorset Art Space Gallery  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. November - December 1993 Sculpture Inuit et Retrospective Pudlo Pudlat  Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec  Montreal, Quebec November - December 1993 The Treasured Monument Marion Scott Gallery  Vancouver, British Columbia (illustrated catalogue) November - December 1993 Inuit Sculpture Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec  Montreal, Quebec January 1994 Shamans and Transformations Albers Gallery  San Francisco, California October 1994 Sculpture of the Inuit: Major Works by the Masters of Stone  Maslak McLeod Canadian Art  Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A. November - December 1994 Small Sculpture by Great Artists: The Younger Generation  Feheley Fine Arts  Toronto, Ontario   April - June 1995 The Birds of Cape Dorset: A collection of sculpture by  32 Cape Dorset Carvers  Albers Gallery  San Francisco, California, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure) May - September 1995 Keeping Our Stories Alive: An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts  from Dene and Inuit of Canada  Institute of American Indian Arts Museum  Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.A. (illustrated catalogue) July 1995 Sunakutagnuvalautut: Things from the Past  Feheley Fine Art  Toronto, Ontario October - December 1995 The Next Generation Orca Aart Gallery  Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. (illustrated brochure) November - December 1995 Miniaturen Inuit Galerie  Mannheim, Germany (brochure) March - April 1996 Major/Minor Marion Scott Gallery  Vancouver, British Columbia SOLO EXHIBITIONS: January - February 1992 Toonoo Sharky Inuit Galerie  Mannheim, Germany (illustrated catalogue) COLLECTIONS: Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia  Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba  HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS: 1991 Attended Qatuujiqatgit Sanaguatit-Contemporary Carving/Sculpting Session organized by the Inuit Artists' College at the Ottawa School of Art in April/May. 1994 Travelled to Coral Gables, Fla. to participate in the International Festival of Craft Arts, winning first prize for sculpture. SELECTED REFERENCES: Institute of American Indian Arts Museum  KEEPING OUR STORIES ALIVE: An Exhibition of Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada. Santa Fe, N.M.: Institute of American Native Arts Museum, 1995. Marion Scott Gallery  ARCTIC ICE: SCULPTURES IN MARBLE BY THE ARTISTS OF CAPE DORSET, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1992. Marion Scott Gallery  THE TREASURED MONUMENT: An Exhibition of Small-scale Inuit Sculpture. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery, 1993. Mitchell, Marybelle  SEVEN ARTISTS IN OTTAWA. Inuit Art Quarterly, 6(3) Summer 1991: 6-17.--------------

Exhibitions

• Animals of the Arctic, Arctic Inuit Art
• Arctic Ice: Sculptures in Marble by the Artists of Cape Dorset, Northwest Territories, Marion Scott Gallery
• Arctic Images: Major Sculptures by Canada's Leading Contemporary Eskimo (Inuit) Artists, at D/Erlien Fine Art Limited presented by Orca Aart, Chicago
• 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 Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon
• 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
• Baffin Images, Orca Aart
• Birds: Sculpture from Cape Dorset & Rock Ptarmigan Limited Edition Print by Kananginak, The Guild Shop
• Images of Influence: Contemporary Inuit Art, Surrey Art Gallery
• Inuit Art on the Mezzanine: New Acquisitions, Winnipeg Art Gallery
• Inuit Master Carvers, Snow Goose Associates
• Inuit Sculpture, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Inuit Sculpture--New Acquisitions, Pucker Gallery
• Keeping Our Stories Alive: An Exhibition of the Art and Crafts from Dene and Inuit of Canada, Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
• Major/Minor, Marion Scott Gallery
• Miniaturen, Inuit Galerie
• New Miniature Sculpture, Gallery Phillip
• Sculpture and Graphics from Cape Dorset, Art Space Gallery
• Sculpture Inuit, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Sculpture Inuit et Retrospective Pudlo Pudlat, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• Sculpture of the Inuit: Major Works by the Masters of Stone, Maslak McLeod Canadian Art
• Second Generation Cape Dorset Carvers, Albers Gallery
• Shamans and Transformations, Albers Gallery
• Small Sculpture by Great Artists: The Younger Generation, Feheley Fine Arts
• Small Sculptures from across the Canadian Arctic, Feheley Fine Arts
• Sunakutagnuvalautut: Things from the Past, Feheley Fine Arts
• The Birds of Cape Dorset: A collection of sculpture by 32 Cape Dorset Carvers, Albers Gallery
• The Next Generation, Orca Aart Gallery
• The Next Generation--Inuit Sculpture, Gallery Indigena
• The Theme of Transformation in Inuit Sculpture, The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery
• The Treasured Monument, Marion Scott Gallery
• Toonoo Sharky, Inuit Galerie
• Two Young Carvers from Cape Dorset: Toonoo Sharky and Qiatsuq Shaa, The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery
• [Inuit Art Exhibition], Whitby Arts Incorporated, The Station Gallery

Collections

• Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg

Publications

• DAVIE ATCHEALAK — Sculpture, Author: Canadian Arctic Producers, Publication: Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers Cooperative Limited. (1980)
• ESKIMO CARVINGS AND PRINTS FROM THE COLLECTION OF YORK UNIVERSITY., Author: York University. Art Gallery, Publication: Toronto, Ont., Art Gallery of York University, (1971)
• PANGNIRTUNG — Recent Sculpture, Author: Canadian Arctic Producers, Publication: Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Producers Cooperative Limited. (1981)