We Have A Visitor

Literature:
spiritwrestler.com, Archived: "We have a Visitor", Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver
Notes:
Billy's first carving was made during a visit to his cousin John Terriak in 1996. Since then he has become an accomplished artist and one of the top names in Nunatsiavut art. Recently he made news for going on a hunger strike to protest the Muskrat Falls reservoir project which would contaminate the food supply for area residents.

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Of this work, Gauthier says,

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"In my experiences seal hunting in the spring I have noticed that a seal will have many holes to surface and breathe. The seal will deliberately alternate the breathing-hole used so to confuse any hunter waiting above whether it be a fox, wolf or polar bear or a hunter like me! This sculpture gives a view inside the den below the ice where the seal pup is living. The mother seal will keep the seal safely housed in the snow den. As soon as any visitor approaches the breathing-hole the mother will sense the vibrations and will swim through the breathing hole to the snow den to calm and warn the pup to keep silent. In this instance it is only another seal!"