Axangayuk Shaa RCA

Inuit Native Artist Axangayuk Shaa RCA from Cape Dorset

Cape Dorset

(1937 – 2019)

Axangayuk Shaa was born March 17, 1937, in Satuqitun. Grandson of carver, Kiakshuk, and the only child of artists Paunichea and Munamee Davidee. Axangayuk began carving at the age of fifteen. Axangayuk was the prestigious patriarch of his sons Alariaq and Padlalik Shaa, who are also well-known sculptors.

Axangayuk Shaa was a master carver whose work was featured in every major Inuit art collection. His work has been exhibited extensively since 1961 with over 11 solo exhibitions in Canada, the United States, and Europe from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to the Centre Culturel Canadien in Paris, France.  His works are featured in the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto as well as the Musee des beaux-arts de Montreal.

In 2003, his artistic achievement was honoured with an election to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

One of the hallmarks of his masterworks was his ability to capture the weight and power of a walrus as well as its softness in motion. As a masterworks sculptor, Axangayuk Shaa was renowned for his large drummers, caribou, bear and walrus carvings as well as for his ‘transformation’ pieces. He had a strong influence on the works of his sons who have assimilated and transformed his ideas into their own distinctive work.

Exhibition information available upon request.

Works by this Artist (Present + Past + Public)

Present Works

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Past Works

The artist’s Past Works at our Gallery have now sold; however, a custom order may be possible if the artist is available and accepting commissions.