Floyd Kuptana

Floyd Kuptana (born 1964) is an Inuit artist in Canada whose work is primarily stone carvings^[1] as well as paintings and collage. Modern Inuit Art developed in the latter half of the 20th century as indigenous peoples of the Canadian Arctic and subarctic regions began living in fixed communities in the late 1940s.^[2][3] As the number of artists increased and the Canadian government promoted stone carving^[4] and work in other media, contemporary Inuit art grew in popularity in Canada and other countries.

Kuptana was born in a settlement near the former DEW station at Cape Parry, Northwest Territories, Canada and later moved with his family to nearby Paulatuk. He began his career by helping cousins Francis and Abraham Angik Ruben to sand and polish their carvings, later working with sculptor and painter Bill Nasogaluak and as an apprentice to David Ruben Piqtoukun. He has produced his own work since leaving the apprenticeship in 1992, and now resides in Toronto. He is brother to carver Robert Kuptana.

Floyd Kuptana's sculptures of soapstone and other stone often feature shapes of both animal and human. Frequent imagery of transformation may be considered grotesque and include works of Sedna the Inuit goddess of the sea and marine animals. His work relates both to the shamanic beliefs and his own experiences.

After coming in contact in the late 2000s with Gallery Arcturus, a public art museum and education centre in Toronto,^[5] Kuptana began working with paint, depicting animals in bright colours on found materials such as wood and later on art board and canvas. Some of Kuptana's pieces entered the market via commercial galleries^[6] but most have been sold by the artist himself for private collections in Canada, the United States and other countries.

Two works by Floyd Kuptana are in the permanent collection of Toronto public art museum Gallery Arcturus.^[7]

Exhibitions

"Linked" at the Oceanographic Museum, Monaco, 29 November 2015 - 29 February 2016

"Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3" travelling exhibit of The Museum of Arts and Design, New York City, 26 June - 21 October 2012

"sculpted from stone and spirit" at Gallery Arcturus, Toronto, 27 September - 12 November 2011

"Inuit Sculpture Now" at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 30 June - 18 November 2007

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inuit Art.

• Inuit Art

References

• Timeline of Kuptana's sculptures from 1999 to 2002 from The Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art (CCCA)
• "Reinventing Myths". Inuit Art Quarterly, Spring 2008 ps. 18-26
• "Art in Review: Changing Hands" Santa Fe New Mexican, September 6, 2013.
• "Inuit Art" The Canadian Encyclopedia

Sources

External links

• Select work at Gallery Arcturus, Toronto, Canada. Videos of artist.
• Select work at Maslak McLeod Gallery, Toronto, Canada. Accessed August 31, 2011
• Images of work at photographic website dragonwhistle.ca
• Galerie d'Art Vincent, Ottawa, Canada
• Quotes and description of work process in Inuit Art Alive