Palaya Qiatsuq

Palaya Qiatsuq

Palaya Qiatsuq (b. 1965) - Artist Biography

Palaya Qiatsuq was born in Cape Dorset in 1965 and began carving around 1977. He learned to carve from his father, the well-known sculptor and print maker Lukta Qiatsuk. Padlaya works in soapstone and bone, and carves each sculpture with much attention to detail.

"I like to carve transformations. That's one of my favourite themes, and shamanism… when I do transformation or shamanism carvings, I hope the younger people will see the carving in a book or in a gallery. I want them to know that these traditions have to be carried out. How do I put this? They have to know that our ancestors had a hard time to live, to hunt. Sometimes they were starving. Those carvings are important to me and I want to show these younger people, and others, that this happened before.”

Biographical Information c/o Dorset Fine arts

Qiatsuq’s carvings generally fall into several themes: Transformation carvings depict the importance of shamanic culture in traditional Inuit life. Because he has known people who had first hand experience with shamanism, he feels an obligation to pass this knowledge on to younger people, who are more familiar with 21st century western/Christian culture. Animal carvings convey the close relationship of Inuit with their environment. Owls, a common bird in Cape Dorset, are also a common theme for the artist. Qiatsuq’s bears, particularly the dancing ones, have a charm, spirit and style that reflect the artist’s personality. People in everyday traditional activities, such as hunting or fishing, are another favorite subject. The artist remembers his mother’s fishing skills, and often carves a finely detailed kneeling woman fishing with a spear.