SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM COLLECTION

Born of Ice and fire

2008
Brazilian soapstone
58 x 30 x 28 cm

Collection of Mark Beggs

The geothermal environment of Iceland - a land of ice caps, glaciers, and active volcanoes - allowed Norse settlers to establish farms and coastal communities in the late ninth century.

Odin

2008
Brazilian soapstone
56 x 37 x 20.5 cm

Collection of Richard and Marilyn Cooper

Setting out in search of land and resources, the Norse carried with them their mythology and ancient religion. This sculpture recalls the courageous voyages of settler families who are accompanied by their domestic animals, smithies, and household goods. The protective image of Odin hovers above them.

To Northwestern Shores

2008
Brazilian soapstone
61 x 101.5 x 53 cm

Collection of Troshan Inc.

Masterfully carved, this sculpture highlights the terrifying challenges faced by Norse adventurers, traders, and settler families who left the security of their homeland for the New World and reached the coast of Newfoundland around AD 1000.

Arctic Apocalypse

2009
Brazilian soapstone and alabaster
75 x 91.5 x 65 cm

Collection of Sheldon Inwentash and Lynn Factor

Climate change brought about by global warming is a serious threat to the North American Arctic, impacting ice conditions, migration patterns of animals and birds, and the hunting life of Inuit. Arctic Apocalypse highlights the artists concern for northern communities confronting the potentially catastrophic effects of global warming.

Study for Shaman's Dream II

2011
Brazilian soapstone
45 x 20.5 x 19.5 cm

Collection of Canadian Heritage Art Gallery

As a student at the Native Arts Center, University of Alaska (Fairbanks), Ruben developed a talent and appreciation for working in miniature. This small-scale study for Shaman's Dream (plate 9) and the study for Shaman's Message (plate 12) reveal the artist's conceptual process.

Study for Shaman's Dream III

2011
Brazilian soapstone
49 x 15.5 x 20.5 cm

Collection of Blain and Averil Caverly

"Throughout my childhood I had . . . the most vivid of dreams, dreams of being in other worldly places and meeting people and being in the dream world."

Migration: Umiak with Spirit figures

2008
Brazilian soapstone, cedar, iron
63.5 x 93 x 25 cm

Collection of Sprott Asset Management

"My parents' influences still have a potent impact on my life, both on a personal and artistic level. They felt that Inuit beliefs were based on the interaction between humans and nature and were vital for the survival and preservation of their nomadic way of life. They have been the pathway to my past and the light to my future." Although few Inuit lead a fully nomadic life today, seasonal activities still structure traditional life. This cycle of seasonal journeys is evoked in Migration with its crew of spirit figures filling an umiak that is supported and guided by abundant sea life below.

Hunter's Journey

2011
Brazilian soapstone
58 x 103 x 28 cm

Collection of Canadian Heritage Art Gallery

The Inuit families who settled in the Beaufort Sea and Mackenzie Delta region shared the maritime hunting traditions of Alaska's Bering Sea culture. The umialik, who was responsible for building the boat and training the crew to hunt beluga and bowhead whales, wears a raven's crest hat, a symbol of spiritual power. Through this sculpture Ruben celebrates the whale-hunting culture of his ancestors, the Inuvialuit.The figure of Sedna, the sea goddess who provides her bounty to deserving hunters, is portrayed beneath the boat, supporting and guiding the umiak and its crew.

Thor, AD 900

2009
Bronze 1/9
81 x 58.5 x 46 cm

Collection of Nick and Elaine Tsimidis

Thor, son of Odin, was regarded as the god of thunder and protector of sea travelers, warriors, and adventurers. This sculpture, cast in bronze, shows Thor within the profile of the polar bear, the powerful guardian spirit respected across the North. Images of wolves, falcons, dragon heads, and mythological beasts of ancient Scandinavia highlight the opposite side of the sculpture.

Odin's Story

2009
Brazilian soapstone
76.5 x 53 x 45 cm

Collection of Mark Beggs

In this sculpture, the artist portrays Odin with his sword, a symbol of his power as god of war. Odin is surrounded by the images of birds, animals, and spirits, whose shapes, knowledge, and capabilities he is able to assume at will.

Sedna: Life out of Balance

2006
Brazilian soapstone
84 x 58.5 x 28 cm

Collection of Peter and Belinda Priede

This sculpture expresses the artists abiding concern for climate change and its far-ranging environmental and social consequences across the Arctic. Sedna: Life Out of Balance illustrates a period of climate change with cooler temperatures that began in the twelfth century, a change in climate that eventually lead to the abandonment of Norse settlements in Greenland. This sculpture portrays Sedna, the Inuit sea goddess, whose hair and limbs become the sea ice supporting Inuit and Norse families.

Celtic Monk: Keeper of Light

2007
Brazilian soapstone
88 x 39 x 30 cm

Collection of Larry Kubal

Irish monasteries and abbeys served as theological centers as well as literary and artistic workshops. Renowned as scribes and illustrators, Irish monks also ventured out as evangelists to spread the Gospels. Here the artist recalls the itinerant life of a Celtic monk, shown with his walking staff and manuscripts in hand. Using the memory of his fathers face as a model, the sculptor depicts an aged figure, a symbol of wisdom and knowledge.

Shaman's Dream

2011
Bronze 1/9
78.5 x 36.5 x 51 cm

Private Collection, Toronto

"My mother told me that our people had always been shamans. We grew up with that understanding. When I chose to become an artist, I felt that the path I was given was to tell the shamans story through our culture and spiritual traditions - to tell stories of things that matter." Able to travel across land, sea, and sky with the aid of helping spirits, the Inuit shaman (angakkuq) was regarded as the primary mediator between the human and spirit worlds. Here the shaman is draped with a bear skin. Images of birds, animals, and spirits radiate from the face of Sedna, the Inuit guardian of sea animals, on the back of the sculpture.

Water Bear

2010
Bronze 3/9
53 x 23 x 26 cm

Feared and respected for its strength and intelligence, the polar bear (nanuq) is keenly regarded as a shaman's most prominent helping spirit. In this sculpture, the artist envisions the shaman embodied within his helping spirit.

Odin, Shape Shifter

2012
Bronze 1/9
93 x 84.5 x 54 cm

Collection of the Platnick Family

The Norse god, Odin, was known as a seeker of wisdom and knowledge. He was a 'shape-shifter', able to change his form at will, taking on the physical attributes of various birds and animals. This bronze sculpture represents Odin in a state of transformation assuming the shapes of bear, eagle, raven, loon, and other animals.

Study for Shaman's Message III

2011
Brazilian soapstone
44 x 20.5 x 25.5 cm

Collection of Maria Sugamosto

"My mother was given initiations at an early age and they became an integral part of her entire life. She was able to integrate the best of her shamanic upbringing with the best that Christianity had to offer to her life and circumstances."

Into the Sunset

1999
Brazilian soapstone
31.7 x 89 x 22 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Gift of Samuel and Esther Sarick

Here, the umiak carries a crew of human and transformed figures. The title suggests a passing of traditional ways and practices.

Into the New World

2011
Oregon soapstone, Brazilian soapstone
50 x 102 x 30.5 cm

Collection of PowerOne Capital Markets Ltd.

The Vikings were exceptional shipwrights whose vessels were relatively lightweight, constructed with overlapping planks fastened by metal rivets. This sculpture in the form of a Viking longboat is decorated with prominent images of marine life accompanied by their young, as well as mythological motifs and design, elements used on Viking ships and weathervanes. Images of polar bear and falcon with their young represent New World animals sought by Norse traders as valuable commodities for the European market.

Breaking Tradition

1999
Brazilian soapstone
41.2 x 84.5 x 27.7 cm

Collection of Samuel and Esther Sarick

An umiak is a large open boat constructed with a wooden or whalebone frame and fitted with a sewn cover of walrus or seal hides. Developed by the Thule people, ancestors of the Inuit, the umiak was used for whale-hunting and to transport families and goods from camp to camp. For Ruben, the umiak often serves as a metaphor for Inuit community. In this sculpture, the sudden appearance of Sedna splits apart the umiak, casting its spirit crew overboard, signifying a break with the spiritual traditions of the past

Silent Drum: Death of the Shaman

2001
Brazilian soapstone
28.5 x 34.5 x 79 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Gift of Samuel and Esther Sarick

The tradition of shamanism remains a strong cultural memory for Inuit, recounted in oral tradition, family stories, and art. The shaman is portrayed at his final resting place, accompanied by his drum (qilaut), lamp (qudlik), and other belongings-objects intended for use in the afterlife. The title of the sculpture suggests the loss of the angakkuq's spiritual power in the wake of missionary teaching and the adoption of Christianity across the Arctic.

North Atlantic Saga

2011
Brazilian soapstone base: 36 x 30 x 21 cm
Narwhal tusk: 211 cm

Collection of Robert and Manuela Oliva

Using the ivory tusk of the narwhal, Ruben recounts the history of Norse settlement in Iceland and Greenland. The stone base depicts the stylized images of walrus, falcon, and polar bear banded together by an intricate overlay of Norse design elements. Following the natural spiral motion of the tusk, carved figures illustrate men carrying swords; their wives holding agricultural tools; a woman working in the field; a blacksmith at his forge; and figures harvesting the animals of land and sea. The top portion of the tusk envisions a time of contact, trade, and collaborative hunting between Norse settlers and the Thule people, ancestors of Inuit.

Inuvialuit: Inuit Way of Life

2011
Ivory narwhal tusk Brazilian soapstone base
Tusk: 188 cm Base: 46 x 42 x 20 cm

Collection of Kipling Gallery, Ontario

The sculpture's soapstone base portrays a panoply of languid figures of northern animals and mythological beings. Figures on the narwhal tusk recall the exploits of Inuit shamans: a shaman braiding Sedna's hair; another reviving a young boy; and Kublualuk, a powerful Inuvialuit shaman, being lifted into the sky by a giant gyrfalcon. Carved images of land and sea creatures illustrate the return of life to the land and the historical resurgence of the Inuvialuit following the tragic epidemics and loss of life in the early twentieth century.

Memories: An Ancient Past

2010
Whalebone, Brazilian soapstone and cedar
176 x 207 x 62 cm

Collection of Kipling Gallery, Ontario

Ruben has carved this impressive sculpture from the skull of a bowhead whale. The transformed figure of a shaman/drum dancer emerges from the center of the sculpture, surrounded by images of bears, wolves, and birds, which often serve as spirit helpers. The figure of Sedna, the guardian of sea animals, is prominently portrayed on the upper right of the sculpture, counterbalanced by the image of a shaman (angakkuq) in a trance-like state at the upper left. On the opposite side, a group of drum dancers accompanied by images of ancestors and animals enliven the sculpture. The shaman (angakkuq) becomes the cortex of the sculpture, his vacuous head and body symbolizing a gateway to the spirit world. The carved figure of a hunter (upper right) emphasizes Inuit dependence on the hunt, while the figures of mother and child (upper left) celebrate the regeneration of human life. A small figure on the woman's shoulder portrays a novice shaman awaiting the vision of spirit helpers.

Memories: An Ancient Past-II

2010
Whalebone, Brazilian soapstone and ceda
176 x 207 x 62 cm

Collection of Kipling Gallery, Ontario

Ruben has carved this impressive sculpture from the skull of a bowhead whale. The transformed figure of a shaman/drum dancer emerges from the center of the sculpture, surrounded by images of bears, wolves, and birds, which often serve as spirit helpers. The figure of Sedna, the guardian of sea animals, is prominently portrayed on the upper right of the sculpture, counterbalanced by the image of a shaman (angakkuq) in a trance-like state at the upper left. On the opposite side, a group of drum dancers accompanied by images of ancestors and animals enliven the sculpture. The shaman (angakkuq) becomes the cortex of the sculpture, his vacuous head and body symbolizing a gateway to the spirit world. The carved figure of a hunter (upper right) emphasizes Inuit dependence on the hunt, while the figures of mother and child (upper left) celebrate the regeneration of human life. A small figure on the woman's shoulder portrays a novice shaman awaiting the vision of spirit helpers.