John Reeves
ADAMIE ASHEVAK
1998, Digital Reproduction,
14 x 11"

Adamie Ashevak
POLAR BEAR HUNTING BY SCENT
1999, Stone & Inlay, 10 x 5 x 12.5"

Kenojuak & Onwards
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Adamie Ashevak

Adamie acknowledges the influence of his mother Kenojuak, and father, artist Johnniebo Ashevak (now deceased) in his early development as an artist. Adamie was born in 1959 and began carving when he was only ten years old. "I guess I was watching my parents all the time," he recalls, "so I probably learned from them."

Today Adamie has carved a niche for himself among Cape Dorset artists, creating commanding sculptures of animals. Whereas Kenojuak's signature subject has always been the bird, her son Adamie chooses the bear as the conduit for his creative energy. "I like polar bears so much. I like to watch them," he explains. "Every time when we are boating and we see a bear, I try to get closer to them." In addition to this type of nature study, Adamie credits Nuna Parr with providing practical tips on the sculpting of bears during his formative years.

Like his mother before him, Adamie's art eschews narrative or social commentary in favour of more formal artistic concerns. He conjures massive, fluid figures from hard stone by working with modern power tools that have greatly expanded his technical possibilities. Adamie works faster and on a larger scale than his mother could ever manage with hand tools, achieving daring compositional feats that add to the powerful realism of his subjects.

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