Abraham Anghik Ruben
Spirit of Life
May 31 – June 21, 2025
TREE OF LIFE, 2023, Brazilian soapstone, 27 x 23 1/2 x 13 in.
In collaboration with Kipling Gallery, we are proud to present a solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed sculptor Abraham Anghik Ruben. His masterful carvings in stone and bone reflect a deep connection to his Inuit heritage, offering a moving exploration of cultural rediscovery and personal identity. This contemporary collection delves into the rich mythology of the Inuit, and the historical encounters between the Inuit and the Viking Norse.
Each of Anghik Ruben’s sculptures serve as a vessel for memory, cultural transformation, traditional myth, or a reflection on future uncertainty. Expertly carved and thoughtfully composed, the narratives woven into each work are as powerful and expansive as the stone forms themselves. Renowned for his remarkable technical ability, Anghik Ruben pairs craftsmanship with evocative, enduring storytelling.
This synthesis is especially evident in his piece Tree of Life (2023), which explores the persistent turmoil and external pressures facing Inuit communities. The base of the sculpture portrays a harmonious existence between humans and animals, rooted in tradition. As the tree ascends, it morphs into a chaotic tangle, symbolizing the modern challenges of climate change, displacement, and food insecurity in the North. Through these deeply contemporary themes, Anghik Ruben draws upon both personal experience and historical resonance. His interest in early contact between the Inuit, Norse and European settlers often surfaces in his works. In Sigurd the Dragon Slayer (2016), for example, Anghik Ruben reimagines the tale of the legendary Norse hero Sigurd, blending folklore with cultural reflection.
In a departure from his signature stone sculptures, Anghik Ruben embarks on a new chapter with his first paintings on canvas, signaling a bold shift into a multidisciplinary phase of his career. Much like his sculptural works, these paintings are rich with narrative and historical depth. Each line placed with intention, like a nerve in a larger body, woven together to express his enduring fascination with the intersection of early settlers and their impact on Inuit culture. His abstract compositions explore how these two worlds connect, intertwine, and coexist within a shared visual language.
A celebrated artist whose work has been showcased from Washington to Paris, Anghik Ruben’s sculptures are held in prominent public and private collections across Canada, and around the world. In 2016, Anghik Ruben was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for his contributions to the contemporary arts.
Silver
1 1/2 x 1 1/2 in.
$995
Brazilian soapstone
9 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.
SOLD
This piece is my interpretation of a similar motif to that of a Norse wind vanes used on their ships.
Brazilian soapstone
10 1/8 x 5 1/2 x 7 3/4 in.
$3,500 CAD
Brazilian soapstone
7 3/8 x 5 1/2 x 3 5/8 in.
SOLD
Like anything else in the animal world, you go through the motions to become something akin to your parent, you have to go through the process of training, both work and play.
Brazilian soapstone
9 x 6 1/4 x 4 1/4 in.
SOLD
A mother seal teaching her seal cub what it needs to survive.
Brazilian soapstone
6 5/8 x 20 3/4 x 5 in.
$18,000 CAD
Brazilian soapstone
27 x 23 1/2 x 13 in.
$28,000 CAD
This is a modern interpretation of Inuit life. At the base are depictions of a traditional way of life, where everything is in order, the people go about their day. The middle area birds and animal shapes start to take form and the upper area is where things start to become unraveled. The climate, migrations, food security, all of those things start to become critical. Ice flows, crushing ice, and tidal ice are on the top, a metaphor of chaos in the Inuit world.
Brazilian soapstone
24 3/8 x 20 5/8 x 16 7/8 in.
$26,000 CAD
Brazilian soapstone
29 1/8 x 27 1/8 x 16 1/8 in.
$150,000 CAD
A falcon rearing two young while the world is changing around her. An uninterrupted life is becoming part of the Viking Norse environment, they encroach on her habitat. The decorative elements represent the Norse way of life.
Brazilian soapstone
13 x 5 1/2 x 6 1/4 in.
$4,000 CAD
In this sculpture of Odin, he has two ravens on his back. The ravens are his spirit helpers, Thought and Memory. Odin send these two ravens out every morning, and when they come back they inform him of the goings on in the world.
Brazilian soapstone
24 3/8 x 17 5/8 x 12 1/8 in.
$65,000 CAD
Brazilian soapstone
27 x 21 x 9 in.
$90,000 CAD
Narwhal tusk and Brazilian soapstone
70 3/4 x 9 x 9 in.
$200,000 CAD
The Inuvialuit of the Beaufort Sea of the western Arctic were accomplished whalers and sea mammal hunters. They hunted from kayaks and umiak, unlike their eastern Arctic counterparts, who lived in permanent and semi-permanent settlements and who encountered the first arrival of Europeans. The Europeans brought with them the Spanish flu which caused an epidemic that nearly the native population. The Inuvialuit shamans were there for the recovery and rebirth of both the people and their culture, as well as being actively involved in their cultural and spiritual life.
Brazilian soapstone
34 1/4 x 11 x 7 3/4 in.
$24,000 CAD
The origins of the Sedna myth are different from one part of the arctic to other. It is a representation of the people migrating, and the story changing with it. Stories of Sedna from the western arctic are very different to those in the east. Depending on where they form, she is an older woman, and some a young maiden.
Brazilian soapstone, whalebone and BC Cedar
58 1/4 x 20 x 14 1/2 in.
$45,000 CAD
This sculpture represents images of spirits along the sea shore. Just as you would see shapes and forms in driftwood, so here the shapes of the whalebone take on spirits.
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 30 in.
$14,000 CAD
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 in.
SOLD
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 in.
SOLD
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 in.
SOLD
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 16 in.
SOLD
This painting is representation of the raven creation myth from Siberia and Alaska, and into the western arctic, and eventually it travels with the people into the east. Here raven comes into an empty landscape. The depictions of him are the potential life he brings into the barren land.
Acrylic on canvas
48 x 72 in.
$28,000 CAD
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 16 in.
$2,700 CAD
All of the animals that the hunter interacts with, he receives a lesson from them. He understands them, knows their migrations, reactions to changing weather etc. Each animal is intertwined in his own life, whether as a food source, or a cultural icon etc.
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 20 in.
$3,400 CAD
This is the life story of the hunter as shown by the animals he must interact with. The hunter is depicted in the snow goggles in the lower part of the painting.
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 in.
SOLD
In the tree of life there is a dragon, who lives amongst the roots. He is one of Loki's children, he knaws at the base of the tree, and he has three companions who help him suck the life from it. At the same time there are three weavers, they water and give it nourishment to counteract what the dragons are doing. In the lower left quadrant, Loki is visible.
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 20 in.
SOLD
In this painting I'm using the animals living out their lives, birds, bears, ravens, whatever manifestation of the physical worlds, and the lives these animals live. Their life is a a metaphor for prayer. They are going about their animal callings. The animals physical life is a metaphor for prayer, going through life is like a prayer, akin to a song for the great spirit. They are just playing their part. And the actions they have expressing themselves is a prayer, doing what they're doing.
Acrylic on canvas
48 x 48 in.
$20,000 CAD