inuit arts
TRANSCRIPT
InuitArts
Enookie AkulukjukPangnirtung, Baffin Island, Canada
Ptarmigan in Spring
In a land of snow and rock, Inuit artists work with the limited materials available : whale bone, walrus ivory, stone, fur, driftwood and lyme grass from the beach.
Figurative works are carved in relatively soft stone, like soapstone or serpentine; or printed as lithographs using the stonecut technique. Most works represent nature’s fauna – owls and loons, whales and seals, bears and caribous; but also hunters and mythical beings.
Inuit communities live in arctic environment, territories such as Greenland, Canada’s Arctic Islands and around Hudson Bay, northeast of Siberia and northern Alaska (Iñupiaq).
Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
Musk Ox, serpentine
Cape Dorset, Baffin Island, Canada
Loon, serpentine
Nuna ParrCape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada
Walking Bear, serpentine
Barrow, Alaska
Ivory kayak
Barrow, Alaska
Tool boxWood, baleen ivory
Tasiilaq, East Greenland
Wood and ivory box
Tasiilaq, East Greenland
Harpoon and Spear throwing stick
Decorated with ivory seals
Greenland,
Sedna sitting
Judah NatanineClyde River, Baffin Island,Canada
Sedna and daughter
Looty PijaminiGrise Fjord, Ellesmere Island, CanadaSedna, walrus ivory
Looty Pijamini
Two mothers
My first carving was a small arctic fox made of wood, carved with a small pocketknife. I learned from my father, who was carving ivory at that time. He would trade these small carvings to men from the early freighter ships.
Osuitok Ipeelee(1923-2005)Cape Dorset, Baffin Island
Osuitok Ipeele
CaribouSoapstone
Osuitok Ipeelee
Caribou, soapstone
Osuitok Ipeelee
Caribou, 1982Green serpentine
Osuitok IpeeleeCape Dorset Studios
Owl, fox and hare
Jackoposie Oopakak (1948 – 2015) Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada Falcon
Ulu knife, sun glassesA traditional Inuit all-purpose knife made with a caribou antler, muskoxhorn or walrus ivory handle and slate cutting surface.
Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada
Kamiks - Boots made of sealskin, with intricate design and fine workmanship when turned inside out.
Pangnirtung, Baffin Island, Canada Pang hats
Pangnirtung, Baffin Island, Canada
Colourful clothing
Lyme Grass Baskets
Inuit baskets are made of sea lyme grass, easy to obtain on the shore, at sandy beaches. Usually they are decorated at the top with a small ivory-carved piece.
These baskets are fine hand made crafts, some of them in auction for a high price.
Pond inlet, Baffin Island, Canada
Basket with otter
Pond inlet, Baffin Island, Canada
Basket with bird
Sarah Appaqaq Pond inlet, Baffin, Canada
Basket with Inukpulling catch
Sarah Appaqaq
Basket with Hawk
Sarah Appaqaq
Basket with Loon
Minnie CarlKipnuk, Alaska
Grass Basket
Carl Toolak Barrow, Alaska
Basket with Bear
Harry HankPoint Barrow, Alaska
Basket with Bear
Angmagssalik, East Greenland
Water Bucket
Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and Crafts andPangnirtung Tapestry Studio
The Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts & Crafts opened in 1991 to serve the art community of Pangnirtung with facilities and equipment. Weaving had been introduced in 1970 and flourishing since then.
Atungauja EeseemailiePangnirtung, Baffin Island, Canada
Waiting for a Seal, 1987Hand-woven carpet
Atungauja EeseemailiePangnirtung, Baffin Island, Canada
Belugas and Kayaker, 1990Hand-Woven Carpet
Isaqkijaq, from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut mainland, Canada
Woven wall hanging
INUIT PRINTS
Inuit Printmaking Art started in the late 1950‘s.
The first collection was issued by the Inuit Artists
from Cape Dorset, Baffin Island (Canada), in 1960.
Founded in 1959, the Kinngait Co-opat Cape Dorset has been producing fine printmaking for nearly 56 years.
Inuit artists draw and paint animals and daily life themes like hunting, kayaking or dog-sledding, but they are also inspired by myths and fantasy.
Mayoreak Ashoona, b. 1946Cape Dorset, Baffin Island
Rabbits at Dawn, stonecut print, 2006
Kenojuak Ashevak born in 1927 Canadian Inuit Printmaker, Cape Dorset, Baffin Island, Canada
Kenojuak Ashevak
Dancing Ravens
Kenojuak Ashevak
Floral Passage
Kananginak Pootoogook(1935 – 2010)A carver and printmaker, he lived in Cape Dorset since 1951; while running the West Baffin Co-op, he began making lithography prints and carving on stone and baleen ivory.
Kananginak PootoogookCape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada
Anxious Trio
Kananginak PootoogookCape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada
Three Shore Birds
Kananginak PootoogookCape Dorset
Hawk
Ningeokuluk TeeveeBorn in Cape Dorset, May 1963
Since her first prints appeared, she has been one of most celebrated inuit artists.
She has a comprehensive knowledge of Inuit legends and a fine sense of design and composition.
Ningeokuluk TeeveeCape Dorset, Baffin IslandCanada
Three Owls
Ningeokuluk TeeveeCape Dorset, Baffin Island
Owls in Moonlight
Sedna’s Wonder, 2009
Sedna is often mentioned because she is a frequent theme for inuit artists.
According to Inuit legend , Sedna is a sea goddess.
Sedna was a young girl ; one day, her group was preparing to go hunting on the sea. As she went to climb into a kayak, some boys pushed her into the sea. She tried to hold onto the kayak to keep from drowning, but they chopped off her fingers and Sedna drowned.
As she sank deeper into the sea, she began to transform into a half human, half sea animal. She was now a part of the world underwater; a sea goddess representing and protecting all sea creatures.
Ningeokuluk TeeveeCape Dorset, Baffin Island
Seasonal Migration
Ningeokuluk Teevee, Cape Dorset
Crosscurrent, 2005
Tim PitsiulakBorn in Kimmirut, 1967
Tim has been living in Cape Dorset for several years now and has enjoyed working in the Kinngait lithography studio.
The land and its wildlife were his primary influences. More recently he has begun drawing large format works.
Tim PistulakCape Dorset, Baffin, Canada
Bowhead in Amautik, 2012
Tim Pistulak, Cape Dorset, Baffin, Canada
Three Running Caribous
Tim Pistulak, Cape Dorset, Baffin, Canada
Vigilant Wolves, 2010
The world's first sunglasses were built by the Inuit of the Arctic. They were created from bone, leather or wood with small slits see through, designed to protect the eyes from snowblindness caused by the bright spring sunlight.
These first snow goggles are said to date back 2000 years to a culture known as Old Bering Sea, who lived around the west coast of Alaska and were the ancestors of the modern Inuit.The snow goggles came to Canada with the Thule culture about 800 years ago. This example, an artifact of the Thule people, from north Baffin, was crafted from walrus ivory and dates back to between 1200 AD and 1600 AD.
Baffin Island, Nunavut
Plaque, 1912–1916
Kinngait Studios for Inuit ArtCape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada
This presentation©Mario Ricca, 2016
Some sources:
Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts and CraftsBaffin Inuit ArtCape Dorset PrintsInuit Gallery, VancouverFlickr