Iyola Kingwatsiak (August 3, 1933 – 2000) was an Inuit visual artist from
Kinngait
Kinngait (Inuktitut meaning "high mountain" or "where the hills are"; Syllabics: ᑭᙵᐃᑦ), formerly known as Cape Dorset until 27 February 2020, is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin ...
.
Early life
He was born on August 3, 1933,
in Kinngait (Cape Dorset) in the Qikiqtaaluk Region (
Baffin Island
Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...
).
Many of his family members were also artists, including his sister Tye Adla (1936–1990),
his sister Keeleemeeoomee Samualie (1919–1983),
his sister
Anna Kingwatsiak Anna Kingwatsiak (1911–1971) was an Inuit visual artist.
Personal life
Kingwatsiak was born in a camp near Kimmirut in 1911, on the south shore of Baffin Island in what is now Nunavut. She was the oldest child in an artistic family, as several o ...
(1911–1971),
and his brother Mikigak Kingwatsiak.
Career
Kingwatsiak first worked as a stone carver, then later became well known for his printmaking.
His artwork often featured Arctic animals (including birds, rabbits, walruses, whales, and bears).
He worked alongside artists
Osuitok Ipeelee
Osuitok Ipeelee (23 September 1923 Neeouleeutalik camp-2005 Cape Dorset[Kananginak Pootoogook
Kananginak Pootoogook (1 January 1935 – 23 November 2010) was an Inuk sculptor and printmaker who lived in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, in Canada. He died as a result of complications related to surgery for lung cancer.
Biography
Pootoogook was bo ...](_blank)
, Lukta Qiatsuk, and
Eegyvudluk Pootoogook.
His work is held in a variety of museums, including the
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 ...
,
the
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.
The museum has three ...
, the
Hood Museum of Art
The Hood Museum of Art is owned and operated by Dartmouth College, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the United States. The first reference to the development of an art collection at Dartmouth dates to 1772, making the collection among the o ...
, the University Art Gallery at the University of Pittsburgh, and the
University of Michigan Museum of Art
The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall ori ...
.
In 1992, he attended the Conference on Inuit Art held at the
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection (MCAC) is an art museum in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located on a property in Kleinburg, an unincorporated village in Vaughan. The property includes the museum's main building, a sculpture garde ...
in
Kleinburg, Ontario
Kleinburg is an unincorporated village in the city of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, an art gallery with a focus on the Group of Seven, and the Kortright Centre for Conservation. In 2001, the vill ...
. Later, he said of the trip, "I enjoyed being there, but the problem was that we sat there like pieces of art in a showcase display. The non-Inuit at the conference spoke as much as they pleased about their own lives and how they lived like Inuit. But they never gave us a chance to speak or asked us questions about our work. The white people dominated as usual. . . .We work hard to make a living with our art and nobody asked us to talk about how we make our carvings and prints and what kind of tools and other things we use."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingwatsiak, Iyola
Inuit artists
20th-century Canadian artists
People from Kinngait
20th-century Canadian printmakers
Inuit from Nunavut
Artists from Nunavut
1933 births
2000 deaths
Canadian male artists
20th-century Canadian male artists