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Kiugak Ashoona (September 16, 1933 – 2014; also known as Kiawak; Inuktitut syllabics: ) was a Canadian
Inuk
Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...
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 () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
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 Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...
. 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 to Inuk artist Pitseolak and her husband, Ashoona, in the community of Tariugajak onBaffin Island
Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland), and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is (slightly smal ...
, Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
(now Nunavut
Nunavut 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'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...
), 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), 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 Island ...
, 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: '; , pl. ''angakkut''; Iñupiaq: ''aŋatkuq'') is an intellectual and spiritual figure in Inuit culture who corresponds to a med ...
'' (shaman
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
) 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 (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
, the McCord Museum
The McCord Stewart Museum, formerly known as the McCord Museum of Canadian History, is a public research and teaching museum. The Museum’s Archives, Documentary Art, Dress, Fashion and Textiles, Indigenous Cultures, Material Culture and Photogr ...
, the University of Michigan Museum of Art
The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with . Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alu ...
, the National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...
, the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection (MCAC) is an art museum in Kleinburg, 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 gar ...
, Kleinburg, Ontario and the British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
.
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 in Canada.
About
The award ...
(1997)
* Canada Council
The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...
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, Kiugak Ashoona's sisterReferences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashoona, Kiugak 1933 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Inuit artists 21st-century Inuit artists Inuit from the Northwest Territories Inuit sculptors Inuit printmakers Inuit painters 20th-century Canadian sculptors 21st-century Canadian sculptors Artists from Kinngait Inuit from Nunavut 20th-century Canadian printmakers 21st-century Canadian printmakers 20th-century Canadian painters 21st-century Canadian painters Canadian animal artists Canadian Inuit artists Animal sculptors 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