Eyeetsiak Peter is a Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU-based carver and printmaker. His brother, Jolly Aningmiuq (1954—2000) was also a carver. Peter began carving as a teenager during the 1950s and also contributed prints to the Cape Dorset Annual Print Collection in 1961 [1]. Peter frequently creates carvings with green and black serpentine. His work represents human figures and wildlife in the North, such as bears.
Prowling Bear (2002) highlights Peter’s representation of animals in the North. The light green, serpentine bear appears frozen as its large front paw is lifted to take another step forward. Prowling Bear also features fluid lines and a smooth, polished exterior. Peter has carved bears in other poses, such as standing or dancing, as well as human figures, such as women with ulu knives or figures with human and animal features.
Peter’s artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally from 1961 to 2013 at art galleries such as Marion Scott Gallery in Vancouver, BC, the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, MB, Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa, ON and the Albers Gallery in San Francisco, CA. His artwork was also exhibited in the touring exhibition, La déesse inuite de la mer/The Inuit Sea Goddess, at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, in Montreal, QC in 1980. Peter’s carvings are included in many public collections, such as the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, QC, the McMaster Museum of Art in Hamilton, ON and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, NT. In 1970, he won first prize at the Northwest Territories' Centennial Sculpture Competition for his sculpture Taloolayook and Man (1970) presented to Queen Elizabeth II [2]. Peter also participated in and exhibited his work at “Art in the Park” at the Art Gallery of Windsor in Windsor, ON in 1974.