Ruben Komangapik and Kommuatuk (Kuzy) Curley
Ruben Komangapik and Kommuatuk (Kuzy) Curley
Ruben Komangapik (1976–) is an Inuit artist and musician from Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), Nunavut. He has a diploma from Nunavut Arctic College in jewelry and metalwork and is known for his mixed-media sculptures.
Kommuatuk (Kuzy) Curley (1984–) is an Inuit artist, director, and videographer from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut. He is known for his carved sculptures which range in both size and stone.
Both artists have accredited their grandparents as inspiration for their art, as it was their grandparents who taught them about their Inuit culture and heritage.
Ruben especially praises his paternal grandfather, Joshua, as he is the one who taught Ruben how to create things by hand, from the likes of tools and furniture, and from a variety of materials, such as metals and whale bone.
Like Ruben, Kommuatuk also learned to carve from his family and after beginning his professional career at the age of sixteen, has become the third-generation carver.
In 2016, Ruben and Kommuatuk teamed up for a commission by York University for the Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage project and created the twenty-six-tonne granite sculpture, Ahqahizu.