Qavavau has demonstrated a range of stylistic abilities over the years - from the very literal to the more expressive. His work is idiosyncratic and often amusing in his depictions of Inuit legends and mythology, Arctic wildlife and contemporary aspects of Inuit life. Some of his recent work explores more serious themes such as climate change and its local impact in the North as well as other current realities of Inuit life. Included in the majority of the Cape Dorset Print Collections since the mid 1990s Qavavau is the latest among the second generation to attract critical acclaim from the contemporary arts audience in the south.
His works are held in several museums, including the Ackland Art Museum, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the National Gallery of Canada, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the National Museum of the American Indian.
For several years Qavavau has worked for the Kinngait Studios as a printmaker - first in the lithography studio and more recently in the stonecut studio. He is an accomplished and precise printmaker who enjoys the opportunity to demonstrate printmaking techniques to young artists and visitors to the studio.
Qavavau lives with his wife and son Peter in Cape Dorset.