Artwork copyright Lawrence Ulaaq Ahvakana. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1986.

Artwork copyright Lawrence Ulaaq Ahvakana. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1986.

Artwork copyright Lawrence Ulaaq Ahvakana. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1986.

Oogruq, 1984

Lawrence Ulaaq Ahvakana
American Iñupiat (born 1946)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

About the Artwork

Oogruq is comprised of two blow-glass sculptures created by Inupiat (Native Alaskan) artist Lawrence Ahvakana. They feature sand-blasted designs and beaded elements. "Oogruk" is the word for seal in Inuit languages. Seals are important sources of food, blubber for lamps, and skin for tents and for covering wooden frame boats in Indigenous communities of northern Alaska. The two artworks were created at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Northwestern Washington.

This artwork is part of Beyond Blue Mountains, a collection that was curated by late Tlingit (Native Alaskan) artist Jim Schoppert. It presents the work of Native American artists of diverse heritage, ideas, materials, and styles. The collection takes an in-depth look at the artists’ unique voices and interpretations of tradition.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Washington State Arts Commission.

About the Artist

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.