I come from a long line of seafaring people. My great-grandparents on my mother's side of the family were respected and capable Yupik Alaskan Shamans. I was born southeast of Paulatuk in November of 1951 at a winter camp near a coal mine used by the Catholic missionaries. This was 35 miles southeast of Paulatuk ("pau" means "coal" or "soot", Paulatuk means "place of coal".
During my formative years we followed a lifestyle not much changed in thousands of years.We were still living to the ancient rhythms of life passed down through the generations. We would cover large expanses of land and sea, ever in search of migrating caribou, musk-oxen, polar bear, and beluga whales.
My early life, until the age of eight, was spent in a nomadic lifestyle, with the daily pursuit of food and shelter a never-ending cycle. This background gave me cultural and spiritual ties to the Inuit way of life and a sense of spirit of place.
This family-oriented life was severed at the age of eight when I and several other siblings and cousins were sent to the town of Inuvik to attend a residential school, Grollier Hall.
After eleven years, I left school in 1970 and enrolled at the University of Alaska's Native Art Center where I tutored under Ron Senungetuk. My studies at the center started in 1971 and resumed again in 1974-75.
I have always been of the strong opinion that the creation and appreciation of art is an entirely cross-cultural and international preoccupation.
The creative forces that compel us as artists are the results of our formative years, our training and individual experiences. The inspiration comes from within, married to the artist's technical and artistic abilities and the medium he or she chooses to convey their innermost thoughts and feelings.This tangible evidence of the inner workings of the spirit draws for the artists an empathetic audience; an audience that appreciates and can relate to the artist's creative endeavors. These individuals appreciate the works on an aesthetic, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual level.
I have chosen to be a story teller for my people, through the medium of sculpture. Within these images, I attempt to draw from the audience a range of thoughts, feelings, and emotions stirring within them; these same thoughts, feelings, and emotions I have wrought into the work. I no longer speak my mother tongue, yet I need to do my part in carrying on the stories, cultural myths, and legends and spiritual legacy of our people. My hope is that my hands and spirit within allow me this one gesture.

Solo Exhibitions

2003 The Art of Abraham Anghik Ruben
Appleton Galleries, Vancouver
2001-2002 Abraham Anghik Ruben
Illustrated catalogue, The Winnipeg Art Gallery
2000, 2001, 2002 Paiges Art Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho
1998 Maslak - McLeod Gallery, Santa Fe
1994 Abraham Anghik: Works in Bronze,
The Isaacs/Innuit Gallery, Toronto
1991 "Spirit of My People:" Sculptures by Abraham
Anghik, The Alaska Shop, New York
1981 Images for a Canadian Heritage, Vancouver
1980 Abraham Anghik - New Sculptures,
The Pollock Gallery, Toronto
1980 Bayard Gallery, New York
1979 The Pollock Gallery, Toronto
1978 The Pollock Gallery, Toronto
1977 The Pollock Gallery, Toronto

Two-Person Exhibitions

1989 Out of Tradition: Abraham Anghik/David
Ruben Piqtoukun, Illustrated catalogue,
The Winnipeg Art Gallery

Group Exhibitions

1997 Sun Valley Center for Arts and Humanities
Ketchum, Idaho
1995 Canadian Inuit Sculpture: The Next
Generation, Orca Aart Gallery, Chicago
1993 Arts from the Arctic, organized by the Canadian
National Committee, Arts from the Arctic and
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife
1993 Arts from the Arctic, Anchorage Museum,
Anchorage, Alaska,
Yakutsk Art Centre, Yakutsk,
Republic of Sakha, Siberia
1991 “Spirit of My People:” Sculptures by Abraham
1987 Orcas Gallery, Salt Spring Island
1984 Images Art Gallery, Toronto
1984-88 Arctic Vision: Art of the Canadian Inuit,
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development, Ottawa.
Tour of United States and Canada
1983-85 Contemporary Indian and Inuit Art of Canada,
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development, Ottawa
1982 New Work by a New Generation, Norman
Mackenzie Art Gallery, University of Regina, Regina
1982 Recent Works by Anghik, Morriseau, - Odjig, Thomas,
Gallery Quan, Toronto
1982 Works by Abraham, Anghik, David Piqtoukun,
Stefanie Ham, Gallery Quan, Toronto
1981 The Inuit Sea Goddess, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey 1981
Gallery Quan, Toronto
1980 National Museum of Man, Ottawa
1980 Children of the Raven Gallery, Vancouver
1979 Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
1978 The Coming and Going of the Shaman,
The Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg
1977 Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
1975 University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska

Public Collections

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Canadian Museum of Civilization,Ottawa
Glenbow Museum, Calgary
House of Commons, Ottawa
Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa
McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,Yellowknife
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
University of Alaska, Board of Regents, Alaska, USA
Norwegian Folk Museum, Oslo, Norway
The Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg

Corporate Collections

Alberta Stock Exchange, Calgary
Alcan World Headquarters, Montreal
BC Chartered Accountants Building, Vancouver
BC Gas Building, Vancouver
Citibank, Toronto
Glaxo/Smith/Kline, Mississauga
Imperial Oil Ltd., Alberta
Kingswood Capital, Vancouver
Labbatt's Ltd., Ontario


Private Collections

John Adams, Vancouver
Lorne Balshine, Vancouver
Arthur Block, Vancouver
Tommy Chong, Paris, France
Alex De Figueiredo, Vancouver
Martin Goldfarb, Toronto
Dr. J. Hyman, New York
Leon Kahn, Vancouver
Klamer Family, Toronto
Don Klune, Ketchum, Idaho
Martha Marston, Dallas
Cas Morel, Calgary
Sam and Esther Sarick
Joseph Segal, Vancouver
Mrs. Selznick, Ketchum, Idaho
Christian Steckler, Vancouver


Honours and Achievements

Expo 86, Banners and backdrop for NWT Pavilion performance stage, Vancouver, Canada 1986
National competition for Glaxo/Smith/Kline Canadian Headquarters the
16’ limestone sculpture, Northern Myth Northern Legend 1990
Manulife national sculpture competition for placement at BC Gas Building, Vancouver, Canada 1993
Holocaust Sculpture Memorial, Holocaust Museum, Israel, 1992 - ongoing