Typically on a personal web page the "About" article is written in the third person, by the individual, and represents an auto-biographical sketch. Often it can be either overly modest or centered on topics of personal significance that have no special value to others.

This is genuinely written in the third person... by a friend with input from a group (and of course we did ask Aqak what he wanted to be said here too)! As a result, we are going to tell you about Aqak from our view, and it might not be modest. We'll also explain a little bit about the group of people who've produced this webpage too, but that might be much more modest.

Known as Aqak to his Inupiat family and friends, and as Vernon to his non-Inupiat friends, Aqak Rexford is an extremely unusual man. He is basically defined by three areas of significance: He is an Inupiaq, he is very spiritual, he is very artistic. All of those lead to other points that account for who Aqak is today.

Aqak's "community" is diverse and yet very specific and very influential. Inupiat Eskimo culture has traditionally generated extremely close family relationships that extend well beyond the immediate family. Aqak and Annie Rexford have three young children, two boys and a daughter, and the children are clearly the center of their lives. Both have extended families, and as is common in Barrow they are related to "half the town". When I visit their home it is almost guaranteed that a cousin, sister, uncle or grandparent is also visiting.

The glue that binds their family together is spirituality and faith. They practice it. It is an application of community and the spiritual concepts traditional with all Eskimo cultures. The principles of sharing and protecting as they practice it is a terrific example that the world could learn from.

What sets Aqak apart though is that while he has "exercised" that community, he then later and more mature has extended it. Today it isn't just family... his community extends to the entire neighborhood and includes everyone regardless of race, culture or other status. To be honest, he did not arrive here by the "easy" route. As is not atypical of a young Inupiaq male lost in transition between a dominant Euro-American culture and traditional Inupiat culture and raised by parents who experienced extreme race discrimination at the hands of missionaries and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, it took Aqak more than a few years to find himself. He has exercised his community in a way that might have isolated him forever...

But Aqak is an intelligent and resourceful person, who does not have a single mean bone in his body! He is a great deal of fun, is not judgmental, really wants to do the right things, and... Aqak has artistic talent beyond what the rest of us can begin to comprehend! Instead of people growing to hate him for the mistakes he has made, he generates an overwhelming (perhaps parental) desire to help him, and help his family and his community.

So here we have a man who has, as he approaches middle age with trepidation, settled down to explore not just how to get a bang out of life, but to be productive and learn how his specific talents can, in the Inupiat way, provide for his entire community. He's learning that his art is indeed extra ordinary, and he works diligently at improving what it represents. While very much wanting to retain the traditional flavor, Aqak studies the effects of a variety of techniques and styles. He is conversant about what makes a painting by Picasso what it is. His understanding of entropy and composition as they apply to visual perception is astounding for a young self taught artist.

Those characteristics have created another "community". A group of friends, one of whom has known Aqak's parents since grade school and has over the past few years introduced us all to Akaq's life and work, have taken notice of the hurdles surmounted and of the hurdles still before him. We are all significantly older, and share a diverse range of talents which we've decided to bring to Aqak Rexford's world. This webpage is one result. We are all greatly impressed by the art he produces, and we feel warmth from tentacles his community extends.

So a group that includes expertise on refrigeration, telecommunications, anthropology, travel, photography, software development... and of course all are successful parents who are old enough to have children the same age as Aqak and Annie Rexford, are just overjoyed to bring Aqak Rexford's art, as well as his family and community, to the Internet.

Written on July 19th, 2011 by the aqakrexford.com support group.