Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 30/98) - For local carver Bob Kussy, life can be summed up in three words: family, carving, and soccer. Every aspect of his life stems from these three original experiences.

As a child in Winnipeg, Kussy's mother, Lil, would take her young son with her to the Hudson Bay Co. to pay her bill. And, just next to the customer service area stood the Bay's collection of Inuit carvings. Kussy remembers being fascinated by the countless stone figures on display.

"I still have my first sculpture. It's really bad, but it was my first," says the now-popular Northern artist.

Kussy constantly refers to his family for the values they instilled in him. Devotion and dedication seem to be the main gifts that were passed on.

Yet, these are values that came the hard way round.

"My family comes from the Ukraine. We were dispossessed and self-sufficient as a family. They fled, left everything. My father's country ceased to exist," explains Kussy.

Perhaps that goes a long way in explaining the solid roots they put down in Winnipeg. According to Kussy, his father coached thousands of kids in the fine art of soccer.

"It amazes me the length to which my parents committed themselves to us."

xxxProud to be Canadian

Kussy and his teammates were twice Canadian Champions and travelled to Scotland, Whales, and Germany representing Canada.

Adds Kussy: "Because of that (representing Canada), I'm extremely proud of being Canadian. I have a very strong sense of what it is to be Canadian."

A man who describes himself as "the ultimate geek in high school", Kussy is a breathless, effusive, and almost overwhelming talker. His excitement is palpable and contagious.

"Each step in my life is an actual and joyous progression," he says.

His own family of five years is an obvious source of pride.

"I'm going on forty. I didn't think I'd have a wife and kids," he says, emotion adding a waver to his voice.

Kussy met Goota Ashoona, his wife, and her two sons by a fateful series of events. With the Winnipeg job market somewhat dismal, Kussy came to Yellowknife for work.

After having worked a stint developing an arts program at the Yellowknife Correctional Centre, he was approached by Vince Savage, who was looking for Caribou antlers.

Savage was working with Inuit kids who were either abused or were abusing drugs and solvents. He asked Kussy to develop an art program for them.

"We got a whole whack of kids from Cape Dorset who didn't speak English. Goota came off the plane with all these kids, she was the translator."

What began as a professional relationship soon developed into love.

"The twins (Joe and Sam) were very shy, very reserved. At first, we didn't have a TV. We (all four) spent a lot of time talking and playing. The boys and I started playing soccer."

"I missed their babyhood," adds Kussy. "I want to make their lives as rich as possible.

xxxLegacy in the making

Kussy is very big on legacy and family history. He considers himself an intermediary between the past and the future.

"They (the Ashoonas) are an art family, on my side, we're a soccer family."

The Ashoona legacy is one steeped in art. Kiawak, Goota's father, is a world renowned carver, with a Canadian postage stamp commemorating his work. A carving has also appeared on the cover of Sculpture/Inuit, a book that was published as a result of an exhibit uniting 405 masterworks of Inuit carvers.

The work of Kiawak's mother has also appeared on a postage stamp, as has her image. And Goota, is an artist in her own right -- she carves and creates wall hangings and dolls. The twins, besides playing soccer, have begun carving.

Kussy is white and, for some people, this white man carving in the North presents a bit of a problem.

"There is a small measure of resentment from a number of people," admits Kussy. "Some people see what I do as an intrusion on the Inuit art world. That's fine. I can live with that. I don't misrepresent myself. I don't pretend to be Inuit."

Kussy maintains that carving is not restricted to anyone in particular, be they white, South American, Japanese or Inuit.

Carving comes from all over the world, he says.

Inspiration, too, comes from various sources.

" I like going back into the past. History is passed on from person to person. I like photographs, old photographs. Other big influences on me are interior design, architecture and engineering, especially as it applies to balance."

Kussy insists he's still a bit silly, a bit of the goof he was growing up. This is communicated in his sculpture, which is irreverent.

"And I like things that fly," adds Kussy. " I like the idea of shamanism and the pre-christian way of explaining things. It's an interesting period that provides rather unusual material."

xxxMagical experiences

The North has not only provided magical material, but magical experiences as well.

Two incidents that have happened since Kussy has been in the North stand out as particularly special for him.

In June 1996, hockey great Gordie Howe came to Yellowknife. Kussy had the opportunity to present Howe with one of his own carvings.

"I felt like a 10-year-old boy. It felt great to make him something to take home with him," says Kussy.

Another joyous moment came when carver Oshooweetook of Cape Dorset handled one of Kussy's carvings, smiled, and said: "Good, good."

This Kussy considers high praise indeed:

"There are so many notable masters of art -- living and dead -- in the North. Some of them I've been fortunate enough to work with."

Two such masters are Judas Ullulaq and the late Charlie Ugyuk.

Kussy has sometimes collaborated with friends. One such friend is Billy Merkosak with whom he created The Spirit of Pre-Dorset.

A commission for display at the Arctic Winter Games, it is carved of a bowhead whale's skull that was found on Baffin Island's Northern shores.

The sculpture measures 183 centimetres wide, 106 centimetres high, 50 centimetres deep and features 16 Northern images. Kussy worked his way from one end, while Merkosak worked his way from the other.

Kussy can also be a practical man. His art, he says firmly, is part market driven and part interest.

"I make art that sells, that conveys images of the North."

As far as Kussy is concerned, that makes him just like everybody else.

"I get paid. I pay the bills. I feed and clothe my children," he says.

The difference between Kussy and just anybody who pays his bills might be that he clearly loves what he does. In the way that he handles his carvings, and in the way he speaks of the people to whom he gives them or sells them to, it becomes quite clear that he can't quite believe his great luck.

"The NWT has proven to be one of the most remarkable gifts ever given me," says Kussy. "I'm so very, very grateful to everyone who's bought my work. It lets me live on a dream."

It should be noted that what Kussy gets, Kussy gives back. Though he sells many carvings, he gives many away. For example, the recent Celebrity Auction benefitted from one of his carvings. Not to mention the NHL player in town last weekend received carvings. In fact, just about any special visitor who comes to town leaves with a carving, which are now strewn about the South.

A little boy who, because of disabilities, wasn't accepted on other soccer teams, was accepted into the team Kussy coaches.

"I don't say no to any child," Kussy says. "He plays great, he loves soccer."

The young boy will receive a beautiful little whale bone sculpture of a soccer player.

Because of his "don't say no" policy, his team is larger than the norm and the kids don't get as much playtime as much, so Kussy rents a gym every Saturday afternoon for two hours.

"I don't do it for ego, that tends to be far down the ladder," he insists.

Kussy's next major endeavour is to attend the Circumpolar Fine Arts Festival in Toronto next summer. That, and getting his kids to Cape Dorset to visit their grandparents.

"My life is great, I'm celebrating my life, my family, my art, soccer."