Elizabeth Angrnaqquaq (1916–2003) was an innovative Canadian

Inuk Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and ...

textile artist active from the 1970s to early 2000s. Angnaqquaq's work explores textile creations while experimenting with non-traditional methods. Her style has been described as

painterly Painterliness is a concept based on ''german: malerisch'' ('painterly'), a word popularized by Swiss art historian Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945) to help focus, enrich and standardize the terms being used by art historians of his time to cha ...

for the way in which she fills the space between her figures and animals with embroidery.

Early life

Angrnaqquaq was born in 1916 in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, Canada in a traditional nomadic camp. She and her younger siblings were raised by their father after their mother died young. She lived a traditional Inuit lifestyle until the early she and her family moved to Baker Lake, Northwest Territories (now in

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

) in the 1950s to avoid poverty and starvation. Her son Harold worked at the sewing center in the late 1960s. In Baker Lake, Angrnaqquaq explored textile and mixed-media art practices where she used stitching as a method for creating figures in fabrics. Angrnaqquaq obtained fabrics through Jack and Sheila Butler, visiting art advisors to the Baker Lake region.

Career

After establishing an art practice in which Angrnaqquaq explored figures of landscapes, animals, and textures through herringbone stitching, she began showing her works at Art Institutions around Canada. After establishing her art practice in textiles throughout Canada, Angenaqquaq was commissioned to create a public art commission for the Post Office at Wakefield, Ontario through the Public Works Department in 1976. Her work has been exhibited throughout North America, specifically in Toronto, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Winnipeg in both private and public commissions. Angrnaqquaq worked well into her 80s, producing her last work in 2000. The work, entitled ''Animals and People,'' explores bright colours and the situation of animal forms within an abstracted landscape. Animals and People was rendered in the same

herringbone stitch A herringbone stitch is a needlework stitch used in embroidery, knitting and crochet. It is so named as it resembles the bones extending from the spine of a herring fish. In knitting, it is a stitch that creates a fabric pattern closely resembling ...

which Angrnaqquaq was known for. Angrnaqquaq died in 2003.

Permanent collections

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the l ...

Winnipeg Art Gallery The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collect ...

Canada Council Art Bank Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

List of temporary exhibitions

* "Eskimo Wallhangings", McIntosh Gallery,

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

* "Baker Lake Wallhangings 1976", The Guild Shop * "Baker Lake Wallhangings 1978", The Inuit Gallery of Eskimo Art * "Artisans '78", Canadian Crafts Council Northwest Territories * "Baker Lake Prints, Sculpture, Wallhangings", The Raven * "Baker Lake Wallhangings 1979", The Arctic Circle * "Baker Lake Wallhangings 1979", Kaiser House Gallery * "Baker Lake Wallhangings 1979",

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...

* "Baker Lake Wallhangings 1980", Margot Galleries * "Baker Lake Wallhangings 1981", Inuit Gallery of Vancouver * "Baker Lake Wallhangings 1981", Tundra Gallery * "Keewatin District Wallhangings 1979", Kaiser House Gallery * "Mary Wolf Ceramics and Canadian Eskimo Wallhangings", Franz Bader Gallery * "The Spirit of the Land", The Koffler Gallery * "Wallhangings Embroidered and Appliqued by Elizabeth Angrnatquaq of Baker Lake", The Inuit Gallery of Eskimo Art * "Embroidered and Appliqued Wallhangings by Elizabeth Angrnatquaq", The Inuit Gallery of Eskimo Art * "Spirits and Dreams - Arts of the Inuit of Baker Lake", Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development * "Baker Lake Wallhangings", The Inuit Gallery of Eskimo Art * "Elizabeth Angrnaqquaq Wall Hangings", The Upstairs Gallery * "Embroidered and Appliqued Wallhangings from Baker Lake", The Inuit Gallery of Eskimo Art * "Women of the North: An Exhibition of art by Inuit Women of the Canadian Arctic", Marion Scott Gallery * "Northern Lights: Inuit Textile Art from the Canadian Arctic", Baltimore Museum of Art * "Arctic Mystery, Harmony and Transformation, Baker Lake Textile Art", Art Gallery of the Canadian Embassy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angrnaqquaq, Elizabeth Inuit textile artists 1916 births 2003 deaths Canadian Inuit women Artists from Nunavut 20th-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian women artists Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit from Nunavut Women textile artists People from Baker Lake Canadian embroiderers