THOMAS AHGUPUK

“I have been carving since junior high. Started off with earrings and pendants. I worked into high school and started doing small figurines like whales, polar bears, and walrus out of ivory. While I was in high school I wanted to learn how to make different things and see what I could make. So I asked my brother and my cousin; they taught me how to carve with walrus rib, walrus vertebra, and jaw bones. I then got into carving with whale and caribou antler. Anytime I ever got stuck or needed help, I would just go to one of the local carvers and they would be nice enough to show a different way to do it, or how to fix something if I messed it up. My favorite thing to carve with is the ivory, I like making roses. I use walrus ivory for the flower, whale baleen for the stem, and walrus ivory for the thorns.” — Thomas Ahgupuk is an Inupiaq artist and lives in Shishmaref, Alaska.