Aqjangajuk Shaa RCA ᐊᔭᒐᔪ ᓴᐊ (1937-2019)
Aqjangajuk began sculpting at the request of James Houston in the mid-1950s and went on to create some of the most sought-after works of art over the next 60 years. He was a born sculptor and a representative of the rounded artists who emphasized the qualities of volume. With great sensitivity, he combined texture and spatiality within a work of art, creating exciting interactions within the depicted components of a sculpture or between the depicted being and its environment in which it unfolded.
Aqjangajuk Shaa was one of the humorists among the Inuit artists. A sense of humor and wit, sociability and enjoyment of life were characteristic of him. It is therefore not surprising that these qualities are reflected in many of his sculptures.
The Shaas were among the twenty families who left Kinngait in the 1980s. They lived around 30 kilometers away, where they were able to maintain their traditional way of life without being disturbed.
