The predominantly gray stones are generally blackened and polished, then incised. Artists from southern Baffin Island work in a variety of stone types. These sculptors seem to view the stone as a challenge, working against it and fashioning intricate, delicate and dramatic pieces with flair. Elegant or humorous animals are popular subjects. The sculpture of the Central Arctic varies from a kind of expressive realisrn to surrealism, with a focus on spiritual or shamanic themes.
Facial features are often exaggerated, with intricate, inlaid details.
Stone and whalebone are popular. The Keewatin stones are gray to black in colour and hard. Human subjects, especially family scenes, predominate. The sculpture from other areas of Canada's Arctic is perhaps not quite so well known. Naturalistic animal and hunting themes predominate in the art from northern Baffin Island, the Western Arctic and Labrador.