Artwork copyright Lawrence Ulaaq Ahvakana. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Lawrence Ulaaq Ahvakana. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Inutuq/Sacred Whale, 1992

Lawrence Ulaaq Ahvakana
(American | Inupiat, born 1946)

Location: Little Mountain Elementary School and Mount Baker Middle School, Mount Vernon

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Inutuq/Sacred Whale is a cast-bronze sculpture by Inupiat (Native Alaskan) artist Lawrence Ahvakana. He notes that "Inutuq/Sacred Whale is the one we call Agviak, the Right Whale or Bowhead Whale" and it is the Northern Inupiat's favorite whale for its sweeter meat. The sculpture's form is based on an original marble sculpture of a bowhead whale, which was based on the traditional, small Native Alaskan ivory carvings of bowhead whales. Whaling captains would carry such a small sculpture or tie one onto the umiak or skin boat for good luck in the hunt. These Arctic whales were and are important to Native Alaskan people as food, to build sod houses with the bones, and more. Ahvakana's bronze sculpture is sleek and voluptuous, realistic but with naturally stylish lines.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Mount Vernon School District.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Native Alaskan artist Lawrence Ulaaq Ahvakana (Inupiat) creates sculptural artworks representative of his Inupiat culture and symbols. He is inspired by the oral histories and legends passed down through his family.

Ahvakana spent his childhood in Barrow, Alaska, part of the Inuit Nation that spans from Siberia in Eastern Russia, to Greenland in Northwestern Europe. He states, "My first introduction to the Arts was watching my mother, who is a very competent skin sewer... The dances and songs of the Inupiaq tradition is the oral history of my people. It is the emotional interpretation of our respect and involvement within the environment of the North Slope of Alaska." Ahvakana earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture and Glass Arts from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1972. He is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. He lived in Suquamish, Northwestern Washington, for many years, and is currently based in Alaska.