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Kiugak Ashoona (September 16, 1933 – 2014; also known as Kiawak; Inuktitut syllabics ᑭᐅᒐᒃ ᐊᓲᓇ) was a 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 ...
artist renowned for his sculptural work and his expansive artistic portfolio. He experienced the longest career of any Cape Dorset artist,Borys, Stephen (2010). ''Kiugak Ashoona: stories and imaginings from Cape Dorset''. Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg. and is a member of the Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880.
History 1880 to 1890
The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...
. In 1999, he was awarded the Canada Council Molson Prize for his outstanding lifetime contribution to the cultural and intellectual life of Canada.
Early life
Kiugak was born toInuit art
Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive. Historically, their preferred medium was walrus ivory, but s ...
ist Pitseolak and her husband, Ashoona, in the community of Tariugajak on 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 ...
, 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. ...
(now 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'' ...
), on September 16, 1933. He was one of the last generations to be born on the land and raised with the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit. In 1945, after the death of his father, Kiugak's mother relocated her family to the community of Cape Dorset
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 ...
, over away, to be closer to relatives. Pitseolak and her children were introduced to the carving trade in Cape Dorset. In 1947, Kiugak's first carving made from walrus tusk was traded to the Baffin Trading Company by his brother, Qaquq, for some large biscuits. As art grew as a new economic opportunity and hunting declined, Kiugak, like many Inuit, transitioned from hunting to creating and selling carvings. His work focused primarily on scenes of Inuit life, such as hunting scenes, mothers and children, as well as creatures of myth or fantasy.
Artistic career
In 1951, Kiugak was introduced to James Houston, an artist from southern Canada who was sent to Cape Dorset to collect Inuit carvings for the Canadian Arts and Craft's Guild. Houston and Kiugak worked together to expand carving in the community. Sometime in the 1950s, Kiugak married Punisti in Igali, a community east of Cape Dorset. He lived with her father Kiakshuk, a renowned ''angakkuq
The Inuit angakkuq (plural: ''angakkuit'', Inuktitut syllabics ᐊᖓᑦᑯᖅ or ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ; Inuvialuktun: '; kl, angakkoq, pl. ''angakkut'') is an intellectual and spiritual figure in Inuit culture who corresponds to a medicine man. Oth ...
'' (shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
) and artist. During this time Kiugak became aware of the shamanic culture and history and incorporated these themes into his later work. After Punisti's death, Kiugak married graphic artist Sorosiluto in 1960, and had multiple children, both natural and adopted. His eldest child is contemporary Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona
Shuvinai Ashoona (born August 1961Shuvinai Ashoona
at Dorset Fine Arts) is an
Kiugak Ashoona is a self-taught artist. During his childhood, he would often create drawings using pencil with little influence from others in his life. During the 1940s, Kiugak began creating sculptures out of ivory. After meeting with Houston, Kiugak transitioned to stone sculpture as this was widely popular in southern art markets. Many of his sculptures at this time were of more naturalistic human figures with themes of hunting and other traditional Inuit activities. In the early 1960s, he took a great interest in conveying Inuit mythology and shamanism through his sculpture.
While Kiugak is most famous for his carvings, he experimented in other mediums such as drawing, painting, and printmaking. He first began printmaking in 1962, using stone-cut engraving. From 1977 to 1981, Kiugak took an interest in acrylic painting, basing his style off Kingmeata Etidlooie, one of the first artists in Cape Dorset to take up this medium. In 1980, Kiugak created drawings using graphite and a combination of coloured pencil and felt-tip pen. During this time, he experimented with creating photorealistic drawings, but ultimately stopped because it was difficult to transfer such detailed drawings into stone carvings.
Prior to his death in 2014, Kiugak had the longest artistic career of any artist living in Cape Dorset. Along with his many awards and honours, his sculpture '' Sedna'' was featured on a Canadian postal stamp in 1980 as part of a series celebrating Inuit culture. Kiugak's work has been featured in over 75 exhibits both within Canada and internationally.
His work is held in several museums, including the
at Dorset Fine Arts) is an
Kiugak Ashoona is a self-taught artist. During his childhood, he would often create drawings using pencil with little influence from others in his life. During the 1940s, Kiugak began creating sculptures out of ivory. After meeting with Houston, Kiugak transitioned to stone sculpture as this was widely popular in southern art markets. Many of his sculptures at this time were of more naturalistic human figures with themes of hunting and other traditional Inuit activities. In the early 1960s, he took a great interest in conveying Inuit mythology and shamanism through his sculpture.
While Kiugak is most famous for his carvings, he experimented in other mediums such as drawing, painting, and printmaking. He first began printmaking in 1962, using stone-cut engraving. From 1977 to 1981, Kiugak took an interest in acrylic painting, basing his style off Kingmeata Etidlooie, one of the first artists in Cape Dorset to take up this medium. In 1980, Kiugak created drawings using graphite and a combination of coloured pencil and felt-tip pen. During this time, he experimented with creating photorealistic drawings, but ultimately stopped because it was difficult to transfer such detailed drawings into stone carvings.
Prior to his death in 2014, Kiugak had the longest artistic career of any artist living in Cape Dorset. Along with his many awards and honours, his sculpture '' Sedna'' was featured on a Canadian postal stamp in 1980 as part of a series celebrating Inuit culture. Kiugak's work has been featured in over 75 exhibits both within Canada and internationally.
His work is held in several museums, including the Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
, the McCord Museum
The McCord Stewart Museum (french: Musée McCord Stewart) is a public research and teaching museum dedicated to the preservation, study, diffusion, and appreciation of Canadian history. The museum, whose full name is McCord Museum of Canadian His ...
, 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 ...
, 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 Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, 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 ...
, Kleinburg, Ontario and the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
Awards and honours
Kiugak received multiple honours including: *National Aboriginal Achievement Award
The Indspire Awards, until 2012 the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, are annual awards presented by Indspire in Canada. The awards are intended to celebrate and encourage excellence in the Aboriginal community.
About
The awards were fir ...
(1997)
* Canada Council
The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal i ...
for the Arts Molson Prize
The Thomas Henry Pentland Molson Prize for the Arts is awarded by the Canada Council, Canada Council for the Arts. Two prizes are awarded annually to distinguished individuals. One prize is awarded in the arts, one in the social sciences and human ...
(1999)
* Officer of the Order of Canada (2000)
* Appointed to the Royal Canadian Academy (2001)
*Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal (2002)
* Nunavut Commissioner's Art Award (2009)
*Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
See also
*Napachie Pootoogook
Napachie Pootoogook (June 26, 1938 – December 18, 2002) was a Canadian Inuit graphic artist.
Life and family
Napachie Pootoogook is the only daughter of acclaimed artist Pitseolak Ashoona. She was born in the Sarruq Island camp near south Ba ...
, Kiugak Ashoona's sister
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashoona, Kiugak 1933 births 2014 deaths Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit sculptors Inuit printmakers Inuit painters Artists from Nunavut 20th-century Canadian sculptors 21st-century Canadian sculptors People from Kinngait Inuit from Nunavut 20th-century Canadian printmakers 21st-century printmakers 20th-century Canadian painters 21st-century Canadian painters Animal artists Canadian male sculptors Canadian male painters 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian male artists Officers of the Order of Canada Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts