Daron Letts
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 10/05) - The Kussy-Ashoona family are displaying dozens of their whale bone and stone sculptures at the Northern Images Gallery in Yellowknife this month.

Goota Ashoona, originally from Cape Dorset, Bob Kussy and their sons Sam and Joe each contributed works to the exhibition.

A few pieces are made with non-traditional materials, such as cut sheets of metal, but most use whale bone left over from the nineteenth century whaling industry. Many of Kussy's sculptures depict fantastical creatures constructed of carved bone, antler fur and sometimes copper.

Ashoona's carvings depict family relationships and a variety of faces.

The gallery also features work by Ahoona's late grandmother, printmaker Pitseolak Ashoona, and her father, carver Kiawak Ashoona.

The exhibition closes on Oct. 15.

The family of artists is preparing to move to Ottawa later this fall.