"I was born in Fairbanks, Alaska and raised in Barrow and Anchorage. My first introduction to the Arts was watching my mother, a very competent skin sewer.

All my life, I was surrounded by my culture and my people, the Inupiaq of northern Alaska. The dances and songs of the Inupiaq tradition are our oral history — the emotional interpretation of our respect for and involvement with the environment of the North Slope of Alaska.

My work incorporates many media and materials and a sense of my cultural design. The interpretation is very personal. I hope the conceptual format gives viewers an idea of the Inupiaq tradition."  

— Larry "Ulaaq" Ahvakana

Mr. Ahvakana has been a professional artist for over 30 years. He is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI; the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Cooper Union School of Art in New York, NY.

Established as an outstanding sculptor with a national reputation, his works are included in a large number of major museums, numerous corporate collections, and in national and international private collections. He has received several public art commissions.

He is most famous for his Inuit or Inupiaq figures and animals. Sculptured from wood, alabaster, marble, glass, ivory and cast in bronze or other metals, his images' pristine, clean-lined form and an almost reverent presence capture the spirit of the Inuit/Eskimo.

Winter 2006 Brochure (pdf)