Lucy Qinnuayuak (1915–1982) was an
Inuit
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 ...
graphic artist
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...
and
printmaker
Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...
.
Biography
Qinnuayuak was born in or near
Salluit
Salluit ( iu, ᓴᓪᓗᐃᑦ, "the thin ones") is the second northernmost Inuit community in Quebec, Canada, located on Sugluk Inlet close to the Hudson Strait and was formerly known as Sugluk. Its population was 1,483 in the Canada 2016 Census ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
in 1915. At an early age her family moved to
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 ...
, where they settled in
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 ...
. She was married to Tikituk Quinnuayuak as a teenager, which was arranged.
Her husband Tikituk was a sculptor and graphic artist.
They continued living a traditional hunting lifestyle, moving around the
Foxe Peninsula
Foxe Peninsula is a peninsula found at the southern end of Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It juts out from the southerly end of the island in a southwestly direction, dividing Foxe Basin and Hudson Strait. Its western ...
and within various camps such as the Shapujuak, Ittiliakjuk, Igalallik, and Kangia.
Artistic career
Qinnuayuak began drawing in the late 1950s and was one of the first to respond to
James Archibald Houston
James Archibald Houston (June 12, 1921 – April 17, 2005) was a Canadian artist, designer, children's author and filmmaker who played an important role in the recognition of Inuit art and introduced printmaking to the Inuit. The Inuit named him ...
request for Inuit printmaking.
Her work was first included in the Cape Dorset print collection in 1961, and by the time of her death in 1982, 136 of her prints were published in the collection. Qinnuayuak worked primarily in graphite and colored pencils, but did more experimenting in the 1970s–80s with watercolor and acrylic paints. In the final two decades of her life, she created thousands of images of the stylized birds and scenes depicting women's roles in the traditional Inuit culture.[
Known for her renderings of arctic birds, Qinnuayuak's work has exhibited extensively in and outside of Canada.][ One of her designs was used in promotional banners for the ]1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
and her stone cut ''We all have something to do'' is part of the Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the B ...
's Aboriginal art collection.
Qinnuayuak's work has been exhibited in more than eighty group and solo shows including ''The Inuit Print'' exhibition, organized by the Department of Indian Affairs and Canadian Museum of Civilization, that toured internationally from 1977 to 1982. Her pieces are held by several institutions worldwide including the Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Beve ...
, the Canadian Museum of History
The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...
, the Inuit Cultural Institute, the Art Gallery of Sudbury, the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
The Art Gallery of Guelph (AGG), formerly the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, is a public gallery and adjoining sculpture park in Guelph, Ontario. The AGG has a collection of over 9,000 works and focusses on research, publishing, educational progra ...
, 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 Louisiana Art & Science Museum, the Albuquerque Museum
The Albuquerque Museum, formerly known as the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, is a public art and history museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The museum is located in the Old Town area and is operated by the City of Albuquerque Department of ...
, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, the San Juan Islands Museum of Art, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre
The Agnes Etherington Art Centre is located in Kingston, Ontario, in the heart of the historic campus of Queen's University. Situated on traditional Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory, the gallery has received a number of awards for its exhib ...
, 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 ...
, and 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 ...
.
Personal life
Lucy and Tikitu had nine children, five of whom died in childhood. They also adopted two children, and took care of the five orphaned children of Tikitu's brother, Niviaqsi. Her husband and niece, Kenojuak Ashevak
Kenojuak Ashevak, (Inuktitut: ᕿᓐᓄᐊᔪᐊᖅ ᐋᓯᕙᒃ, Qinnuajuaq Aasivak), (October 3, 1927 – January 8, 2013) is celebrated as a leading figure of modern Inuit art.
Early life and family
Kenojuak Ashevak was born in an igloo ...
, were also involved in the arts. She died on 10 September 1982.
Major exhibits
*Birds and Flowers: Eskimo Graphics by Lucy Qinnuayuak, Arctic Artistry, New York, 1989[
*Looking South: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978
]
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qinnuayuak, Lucy
1915 births
1982 deaths
Inuit printmakers
Artists from Quebec
Artists from Nunavut
People from Nunavik
People from Kinngait
Women printmakers
Canadian Inuit women
Inuit from Quebec
20th-century Canadian women artists
Bird artists
20th-century Canadian printmakers