David ruben piqtoukun biography of mahatma

One of 15 children, Piqtoukun lived a traditional Inuit life until he was sent away to residential school at age five.

David ruben piqtoukun biography of mahatma: of the Inuit artist David Ruben

Allan Gonor from North Battleford, Saskatchewan in Gonor suggested he use stories Piqtoukun collected in his sculpture. In , he started compiling ancestral stories, creating an oral history for himself. It served as a source for his work and a way to re-establish his roots and identity. His output includes sculpture and prints; the sculptural work is innovative in its use of mixed media.

His materials and imagery bring together modern and traditional Inuit stylistic elements in a personal vision. An example of this is his work The Passage of Time , which portrays a angakkuq shaman in the form of a salmon moving through a hole in a hand. While shamanic imagery is common in much of Inuit art , the hand in this work is sheet metal, not a traditional material such as walrus ivory , the antler 's of caribou or soapstone.

Piqtoukun mostly works in stone, but also casts in metal. Early in his career, he was interested in Rodin and his casting techniques and visited Paris to study the work of the French artist.