Billy, what do you want to be when you’re older? The question, out of his mother’s mouth, came to Billy Gauthier for the first time when he was eight years old. “An artist,” he said, already fascinated with drawing portraits, learning the rules of symmetry and proportions, and finding the balance that made each member of his family’s face unique. At 12, she asked him again, this time with a follow-up question: “do you want to try carving?” Gauthier didn’t know anyone who carved, and without someone to show him it was possible, the question rolled past him with little second thought.
Six years later, one more question from mom: “if you are interested in learning how to carve, can I introduce you to someone?” A meeting was quickly set with his cousin, renowned Inuit sculptor John Terriak, and the ground was laid. “I saw that he had two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and ten fingers, just like me. So, if he could do it, why couldn’t I? He gave my first stone at the end of the day, I brought it home, and I carved all through the evening and into the night.
By the morning, I had this little Inuk face,” said Gauthier. It’s one of the first pieces on display at the where it will stay until the end of October as part of the first mid-career exhibit of Gauthier’s work outside of his home in Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s the largest collection of Gauthier’s work ever on display with 40 works sourced from a variety of private collections, and curated by Darry.
