Abraham Anghik Ruben

Powerful, compelling, exquisite are but a few of the words to describe the work of master sculptor Abraham Anghik Ruben. Stories, myths and legends of ancient Northern cultures find new life and expression through his work. Linked by strong narratives, his sculptures speak of cultures lost and times forgotten.

Abraham was born in 1951 in a camp south of Paulatuk, Northwest Territories and east of the Mackenzie River Delta. This region is home to the Mackenzie Inuit or Inuvialuit. The late 1890s would see the arrival of large-scale commercial whaling fleets into the region soon followed by an influx of Inuit from Alaska.

Abraham’s own great-grandparents, noted shamans Apakark and Kagun came from the Bering Sea region of Alaska during this time. Abraham pays tribute to them in the sculpture Apakark and Kagan-Journey to the Underworld (plate 14). By the time of Abraham’s birth, Inuit culture was in the midst of a profound change that would forever alter their traditional way of life and set the stage for Abraham’s lifelong quest to re-discover and connect with his roots.

Up until the age of 8 Abraham lived with his family on the land migrating with the changing patterns of the seasons. As it had been for thousands of years, life was hard and the family needed to rely on the skills and efforts of all members to ensure survival in one of the harshest environments on earth. In 1955 this existence was to change dramatically for Abraham when heartbreaking time for the family is eloquently captured in The Last Goodbye. This same scene would be repeated again when Abraham and his other brothers were themselves sent away. This sadness and horror of life at these schools would come to light many years later, but for Abraham the pain endured during those eleven years came early and would continue to haunt him throughout his life as we see in Wrestling with my Demons.

Abraham’s quest to reconnect with his past found artistic form in 1971 when he attended the Native Arts Centre at the University of Alaska studying under Ronald Senungetuk. Throughout the 1970s Abraham pursued a career as an artist working in the varied media of sculpture, jewelry, prints and drawings. He would soon catch the attention of art dealers across Canada including Jack Pollock who showed his sculptures at his gallery in Toronto in a series of solo exhibitions.

In 1986 Abraham moved to Salt Spring Island where he continues to live and work with his wife Patricia Donnelly and their children. Since that time, Abraham’s interests in exploring the stories, myths and legends of his ancestors have found artistic form in a multitude of works, which have been exhibited and collected internationally. His quest has also led in recent years to the exploration of other cultures and people who inhabited the Northern hemisphere. In his last solo exhibition, curated by Darlene Coward Wight at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 2001, Abraham stated that:

I have always tried to learn from others, either Inuit or other elderly people who can pass on their knowledge of what life is about. I try to put that into my sculpture.

Abraham’s mother’s aunt, Paniabuluk, assisted Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson on many of his expeditions. She became his Inuit wife. Stefansson, the son the Icelandic immigrants, was born in Manitoba in 1879 and spent the winter of 1906-07 living with the Mackenzie Inuit. In 1928 Captain Larson of the St. Roche spent the winter in Langton Bay with Abraham’s grandfather Ruben Anghik and his family. These historical family connections inspired Abraham’s interest in people of the Nordic countries.

In late 2004, while recovering from an ordeal with cancer, Abraham gained a new perspective on life that enabled his artistic practice to reach a new high.

Many of the sculptures in the years since 2005 centre on Abraham’s interest in the relationship between the Inuit and the Viking Norse Centuries before European explorers “discovered” North America the Vikings set sail along the icy waters from their Scandinavian homelands eventually finding their way to the shores of what is now Canada. The powerful works To the North Western Shores (plate 10) and Odin (plate 5) dramatically recounts these voyages. The parallels between these works and Inuit stories of migration are striking. Men, women, and children travel together by boat with all of their worldly possessions in search of better lands in which to live bringing along with them their culture and spiritual beliefs. In these works, the wooden, dragon prowed ship of the Norse replaces the traditional Inuit umiak.

As a storyteller, Abraham builds upon that which he already knows. From his own perspective, he tells the stories of these encounters between Inuit and Viking Norse. Abraham sees great similarities between the two cultures including the practice of shamanism and a respect and reverence for the land He seeks to bring to life the experiences of the Vikings in North America from a contemporary view – stories, which have not yet found a voice.

The sculpture Goddesses of the Northern Seas (Sedna and Ran) represents the spiritual encounter between these cultures. Sedna and Ran are counterparts in their respective cultures, both governing the seas. Abraham brings the two together as symbols of the cultural and spiritual exchange, which he believes occurred between Inuit and Viking. Similarly, Ancient Memories I and II (plates 8-9) reference the essential role of storytelling and communion in both cultures.

Researching Norse culture and reading Icelandic Sagas provided Abraham with new narratives in which to add his own interpretation. Born of Ice and Fire (plate 1) represents the first Viking Norse colonists to Iceland whose God of choice was Thor, dramatically rendered by Abraham in Thor 900 AD. Norse design motifs enhance the sculpture and are used by Abraham to greater or lesser extents in works dealing with this theme.

Abraham’s earlier fascination with Inuit subjects has not been forgotten finding new expression in works such as Shaman’s Dream, (plate7), Shaman beckoning Sedna (plate 13), and Angatkok and Sedna (plate 11). In the dramatic work Odin, Shape Shifter (plate 6) Inuit and Viking beliefs intertwine with reference to the shamanic abilities of this powerful Norse god. Odin is represented in the various animals and birds, which he is known to have transformed into.

It is this interest in the parallel cultures of Viking Norse and Inuit that has resulted in some of the most powerful works that Abraham has ever produced. Bold, dramatic and expertly rendered, Abraham has honed his talent to a new level – we are witnessing an artist at his peak.