Billy Gauthier: The Earth, Our Mother

The people I’d like to reach the most through this truthful tale are the ones with the patience, persistence, and unconditional drive to right our wrongs on our only true home: The Earth. I love science, culture, poetry, nature, visual arts, and truth. This is my attempt to merge them all.”   
- Billy Gauthier

Billy Gauthier’s The Earth, Our Mother, was carved from a huge fin whale skull in August 2023 over seven days during the Bonavista Biennale in Bonavista, NL. She is the largest work the artist has created to date. Animal life, landscapes, and faces emerge, telling a multi-part story that holds considerable meaning. The work reflects Gauthier’s relationship to his ancestors, the land, his Inuk heritage, and carries the artist’s appeal for responsible stewardship of the planet for future generations.

The Rooms is grateful to philanthropist Elinor Gill Ratcliffe for her generous donation, which allows the sculpture to be purchased for the people of this province and shared for generations to come.

More about Billy Gauthier

Billy Gauthier (b. 1978, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL) is an artist and activist of Inuit ancestry currently residing in North West River, Labrador. He was drawing and making art from a young age and began carving in 1996 after meeting his cousin John Terriak, a renowned Inuit sculptor. Gauthier’s work is widely recognized for his tremendous skill with traditional materials and the extent to which he pushes himself and his materials’ limits. His sculptures have narrative qualities inspired by personal memories, Inuit cosmologies, and mutual respect for the land and its natural resources.

Gauthier has received many accolades for his work, including being named Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s (NLAC) Emerging Artist of the Year in 2011. His work has been collected by many passionate individuals and public and private institutions across the country, and was exhibited in a solo show at The Rooms in 2019 (https://www.therooms.ca/exhibits/past-exhibit/billy-gauthier-saunituinnaulungitotluni-beyond-bone)

To read Billy Gauthier’s artist statement, please click here.
To read the artist statement in Inuktitut, please click here.

Image:  Billy Gauthier. The Earth, Our Mother (2023). Carved fin whale skull bone, approximately 143.5 x 207 x 76.2 cm. Originally commissioned by Bonavista Biennale. Collection of The Rooms. Purchased with a generous donation from Elinor Gill Ratcliffe. Photo: Brian Ricks, courtesy of Bonavista Biennale.