Joe Poodlat - Taloyoak - Bird in Flight - 1998 - I

Updated September 18, 2026

Carved in 1998 by respected Taloyoak artist Joe Poodlat, Bird in Flight is an elegant, modernist statement of Arctic avifauna realized in dark serpentine stone and mounted to a natural granite base. The composition achieves lift and velocity through an elongated, tapering wing that surges above a compact, beaked body, the entire silhouette riding a slender central peg to evoke airborne lightness. The serpentine presents as a deep graphite-to-black field with subtle mineral mottling and a refined hand-rubbed polish that catches light along the carving’s crisp planes and softened contours. Poodlat’s reductive vocabulary is quintessential Taloyoak - an economy of line that translates lived observation of northern wildlife into abstracted form while retaining the subject’s vitality and spirit. The sculpture is accompanied by its original Government of Canada authenticity certificate, completed by hand with the artist’s name, community, title, and date, confirming both authorship and origin.<br>Dimensions 4 inches long x 2 inches wide x 7 inches tall.<br>Condition is very good for age with expected minor surface rubs, tiny edge nicks, and natural inclusions inherent to serpentine and to the quarry-split granite base.<br>For the advanced collector of Inuit art, Canadian Indigenous art, and modern stone sculpture, this work offers a highly displayable scale, beautiful material presence, and strong Taloyoak provenance, with sought-after late twentieth century dating and certification.<br>90104 <br> <br>

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