8. Family

Arviat
Stone
7.75” x 6” x 3.5”

First beginning to sculpt upon moving to Arviat in the 1960s, Tutsweetok quickly developed a penchant for working in the tough local basalt. Working in the semi-abstract, figurative style of the region, Tutsweetok is best known for her depictions of familial groupings, using the stone in a way as to maintain its natural shape, while revealing forms that seem to emerge organically from within.

Family is a wonderful example of Tutsweetok’s work. Subtly carved faces appear to grow from the stone, devoid of gender and incised with fine horizontal lines to determine their eyes and mouths. Tutsweetok's approach celebrated the material itself, leaving large portions of the stone uncarved to maintain its natural shape. This reflects her belief in honoring the land’s pre-existing beauty. Tutsweetok’s work, which blends abstraction with figurative elements, continues to be celebrated for its deep cultural resonance and its ability to record a way of life for future generations. Throughout her five decades of production, Tutsweetok exhibited both nationally and internationally, in Germany, Switzerland, and France.