The settling of arctic North America is a human
miracle of the highest magnitude. The continent’s
northern rim features a desolation of mountain
ranges, tundra, icy beaches and snowfields without
horizon. It is uniform only in its cold, its winter
dark and its total disregard for the poorly equipped
and inhospitable region dominated by sea and ice.
The secret of the arctic peoples success in this
region lay in their incredible adaptation to these
seemingly harsh circumstances, for however grim
their earthly realm appears to us, it is one of the
world’s riches areas in available natural bounty. The
region supports abundant sea life, a large variety of
birds, as well as numerous species of land animals.
The arctic people utilized these resources not only
for subsistence but also for creative expression, as
revealed in this sensitively sculpted bone figure.
Kneeling on bent legs, with arms resting on his
thick coat, the figure peers out from within the
coat's warm hood. The artist has carved this arctic
image with a minimum of detail; however, the
spirited energy that emanates from this sculpture is
immense. It reveals a people’s aesthetic pleasures,
a love of art for its own sake in an environment that
is one of the world's most extraordinary.
- (PF.2534)
|
