Oviloo Tunnillie (1949 - )

DREAM OF MY SPIRIT
Cape Dorset, 2002
Stone, Antler, Metal, 36 x 19 x 17”

Oviloo: "This sculpture comes from my dreams, my spirit and my memories. In 1971 I had a dream that a large eye was watching over me - it is at the top of the antler. Hanging from the antler, the dark stone is the universe and the white stone is the brighter place that is above the universe. The eye told me that I was somewhere in between and I would have to reach higher and work harder to reach the brighter place. The eye also told me about my spirit. My spirit comes down the antler and turns into another eye which watches over memories of my childhood. Through it, I see myself as a child - the story is told on the white stone being cradled by the hands below. It shows two parts of a special day when I was around five years old and we were travelling on the and. At the bottom, I have left our boat and started up the hill. Above, is later in the day, when my father had been carrying me on his shoulders for a long time; I had fallen asleep and when I woke up at the top of the hill I could see the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. My spirit watches this scene and then is able to rise up to join the
universe."