Ricky Kuzuguk

Ricky Kuzuguk was born in 1963 in Shishmaref, Alaska, an Inupiaq village known for fossilized whalebone carvings. It is located on Sarichef Island in the Chukchi Sea, just north of the Bering Strait and five miles from the mainland.

Growing up in Shishmaref, Ricky lived a subsistence lifestyle. His father, Frank Kuzuguk Sr., carved fossil whalebone and shared his hunting traditions and carving expertise with his three sons, Ricky, Wilber and Frank Jr.

Ricky started carving fossil whalebone as a teenager studying his rich Inupiaq culture at the Shishmaref Art and Culture School, a unique program of the Bering Strait School District that supports bilingual/bicultural instruction as well as arts instruction integrating cultural and arts activities into the academic curriculum. Ricky studied carving with John Sinnok, a teacher who set a high bar for the quality of work he expected from his students.

Today, Ricky is an accomplished artist working with fossil whalebone, fossil ivory, new ivory and baleen. He is well known for his whale vertebrae carvings depicting traditional village life - hunting, fishing drumming and dancing. These sculptures are often embellished with baleen and ivory inlay. His work is meticulous carved with attention to detail and style.