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Pauta Saila, RCA, artist, sculptor (born December 1917 at a hunting camp on Baffin Island, NT [now NU]; died 9 June 2009 in Cape Dorset [now Kinngait], NU). Technically skillful in stone or on paper, Pauta Saila was known particularly for his "dancing bears," powerful, somewhat abstract sculptures of upright polar bears. In 2003, he was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
Early Life and Family
The son of Saila, an important Inuit leader, Pauta Saila grew up on his father's immense southwestern Baffin Island hunting territory. He knew the habits of polar bears from close observation. He lived with his second wife, well-known graphic artist Pitaloosie, in Cape Dorset (now Kinngait).
Art Career
Pauta Saila created both drawings and sculptures. Some 40 of his drawings were published as prints. His massive sculpture, Bear, was widely exhibited and was present in many public collections. It was created in 1967 during the International Sculpture Symposium in High Park, Toronto. In the 1960s, Saila carved various arctic creatures as well as bears, but in the 1980s, bears balancing on one foot became his principal theme.
