Paul Toolooktook

Paul Toolooktook (1947–2003) was an Inuit sculptor and printmaker born in the Tipjalik (Beverly Lake) area of the Kivalliq region in Nunavut. Raised in an artistic family based in Qamani'tuaq (Baker Lake), he was the son of artist Martha Aptanik and step-brother to artist Basil Aptanik. He began carving in early adulthood, producing sculptures primarily in the local hard grey stone of the Baker Lake region, depicting human figures, Arctic wildlife, and traditional camp activities.

In 1970, at the age of twenty-three, Toolooktook was selected to travel to Osaka, Japan, to represent Inuit carving at Expo '70. Over the following decades, he contributed stone sculptures and graphics through the Sanavik Co-operative in Baker Lake, including works for annual community print collections. In the mid-1990s, he joined the local carvers association in Qamani'tuaq, remaining an active contributor to community arts initiatives until his death in 2003.

Toolooktook's sculptures have been presented in institutional museum exhibitions across Canada and abroad. His work was featured in The Zazelenchuk Collection of Eskimo Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1978 and the touring survey In the Shadow of the Sun: Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art in Canada, organized by the Canadian Museum of Civilization (now the Canadian Museum of History) in 1988. His sculptures are held in the permanent collections of major public institutions, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife.