Pudalik Shaa

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1965-, Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada

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Pudalik Shaa is a prolific sculptor from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. Hailing from a family of celebrated carvers (his father is the very famous Axangayuk Shaa), Shaa began carving at the age of 12 after watching his father and others carve. His favorite subjects include dynamic figures caught in mid-motion, often in a precarious state of transformation. Pudalik says that he is especially conscious of form with his transformation pieces, which are composites of different animals combined with a human face or figure. Many of his birds and transformation figures are finely balanced on one leg.

Unlike the youth of today, he learned and used hand tools exclusively; a saw, an axe, a rasp, and various files.