Manasie Akpaliapik

Born in Baffin Island and raised in Arctic Bay, Manasie has bloomed from a family of artists. His father Lazaroosee and mother Nakyuraq Akpaliapik were also great sculptors. He married early in his life and had two children. However, in 1980, his family was killed in a devastating fire. Shattered by this tragedy, he moved to Montreal and then to Toronto. During this time, he began to carve professionally. In 1989 he was awarded a grant to study Inuit culture. His style is characterized by his use of human and animal forms meshed with Inuit culture. His work was exhibited in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, which held his personal exhibition in 2017.