Allan Shutiapik primarily carves marble or serpentine, a local stone found in open pit mines in Nunavut. Serpentine is a rock similar in composition to jade. Just like jade, it is a very hard stone, so it takes a lot of artistic vitality to carve it.

Allan’s pieces have a great sense of movement and respect the traditional Inuit style of carving. The artist learned how to carve at home, watching his father sculpt.

This artist takes pride in carving the traditional way; by getting his stones himself which he finds in the open sky mines, on Baffin Island. Allan takes the greatest care in the choice of his stones. Therefore, he his known for his sculptures, which are made out of the finest serpentine, abundant in different shades of green. His sculptures are then smoothed and polished, in order to better show the brilliance of the stone. Serpentine is a rock similar in composition to jade. It is a very hard stone, so it requires a lot of artistic vitality to carve.