Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Spring 2018 | Página 26

Quvianaqtuk Pudlat
Sparring Owls, 2017
Stonecut
68.8 x 48.6 cm
Saimaiyu Akesuk
Reflection, 2013
Stonecut and stencil
55.8 x 51 cm
Following in her footsteps…
The arts Co-operative in Cape Dorset, now known as the
Kinngait (pronounced “King-ite”) Studios, has fostered the
careers of four generations of artists. Kenojuak Ashevak was
one of the first; she and others of her generation have left an
extraordinary legacy for others to follow. Here are three
contemporary graphic artists whose work is attracting critical
acclaim and commercial success.
Ooloosie Saila was inspired to draw by Kenojuak Ashevak. As
a child, she remembers visiting Kenojuak’s home and watching
her draw, perhaps thinking she would do this herself someday. At
age 14, she won first prize in her high school drawing contest. She
has only been selling her work through the Kinngait Studios since
2015, but she is already emerging as an original and talented artist.
Ooloosie explores diverse themes and approaches in her work, but
her landscapes stand out in particular. They have a collage-like
quality that captures the many colours, contours and contrasts of
the Arctic sea, ice and tundra.
For many years, Quvianaqtuk (“Quvi”) Pudlat focused his
artistic abilities on creating sculpture, and his carvings of Arctic
animals and birds are in many collections. He has recently
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turned his hand to drawing, and his first print, Sparring Owls,
was just released in the 2017 Cape Dorset annual print collection.
This simple, elegant stonecut is reminiscent of the work of the
great, Arctic naturalist, Kananginak Pootoogook, and it is likely
that Quvianaqtuk will carry on the tradition. He comes by
his talent for the graphic arts naturally; his parents were both
printmakers and his grandfather, Simeonie Quppapik, was an
artist, printmaker and typographer.
Saimaiyu Akesuk is also a relative newcomer to the Kinngait
Studios stable of artists. Her original drawings were first
exhibited at the Toronto International Art Fair in 2013 along
with a concurrent exhibition at Toronto’s Feheley Fine Arts.
She has also been represented in the Cape Dorset annual
print collections since 2013. Bold, colourful and imaginative
forms of birds and animals distinguish Samaiyu’s style as
dynamic and contemporary; interestingly, though, many of
them are influenced by the carvings of her grandfather, the late
Latcholassie Akesuk. It is this blend of traditional influences and
contemporary interpretations that is setting new directions in
Inuit art and attracting the attention of major public institutions
and private collectors.