Lucy Qinnuayuak

Lucy Qinnuayuak (; 1915–1982) was an Inuk graphic artist and printmaker.

Early life

Qinnuayuak was born in or near Salluit, Quebec in 1915. At an early age, her family moved to Baffin Island, where they settled in Cape Dorset. After the death of her father, her mother remarried. Lucy traveled with her mother and stepfather on hunting trips in the Cape Dorset region.

Artistic career

Qinnuayuak began drawing in the late 1950s while living in Kangia, where she and her brother-in-law Niviaqsi produced drawings at the request of James Archibald Houston. 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 coloured pencils, but did more experimenting in the 1970s–80s with watercolour and acrylic paints. In the final two decades of her life, she created thousands of images of stylized birds and scenes depicting women's roles in 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, and her 1964 stone cut ''We All Have Something to Do'' is part of the Senate of Canada's Aboriginal art collection.

In 1973, Qinnuayuak worked closely with visiting Toronto artist K.M. Graham, who had set up a studio in the sunroom of Terry Ryan's home in Cape Dorset. Graham introduced her to pastels and to using acrylic paint in a watercolour style. Despite a language barrier, they often painted together, with Qinnuayuak's grandson Otiloo occasionally serving as interpreter. Graham later recalled Qinnuayuak's enthusiasm for experimenting with colour and technique, describing their time together as humorous and creatively productive.

Her work is held by several institutions worldwide including the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Albuquerque Museum, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Art Gallery of Sudbury, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the Canadian Museum of History, the Inuit Cultural Institute, the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, Museum London, the National Gallery of Canada, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery Oshawa, Saint Mary's College Museum of Art, the San Juan Islands Museum of Art, the Tate, and the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Exhibitions

Qinnuayuak's work has been exhibited in more than eighty group and solo shows, including:
* ''The Inuit Print'', organised by the Department of Indian Affairs and the Canadian Museum of Civilisation, which toured internationally from 1977 to 1982
* ''Looking South'', Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1978
* ''Flights of Fancy: Kenojuak Ashevak, Lucy Qinnuayuak, Pitaloosie Saila'', held at the Art Gallery of Ontario and as a travelling exhibition, 1989
* ''Birds and Flowers: Eskimo Graphics by Lucy Qinnuayuak'', Arctic Artistry, New York, 1989

Personal life

As a teenager, Qinnuayuak entered an arranged marriage to Tikituk Quinnuayuak, a sculptor and graphic artist. They met in the Nunavik camp of Supyjuak, later moving to Kangia, northeast of Cape Dorset. Tikituk carved in caribou antler and wood as a child, later transitioning to stone carving after the arrival of James Houston in Cape Dorset. Several of his works were exhibited in the early 1950s, including internationally. Lucy welcomed the income from art, particularly during a period when her husband was sent south in 1961 to be treated for tuberculosis. After Tikituk's recovery from tuberculosis, the family settled permanently in Cape Dorset.

Lucy and Tikituk had nine children, five of whom died in childhood. They also adopted two children and raised five orphaned children of Tikituk's brother, Niviaqsi. Her niece, Kenojuak Ashevak, was also involved in the arts. She died on 10 September 1982.

References

Further reading

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Qinnuayuak, Lucy
1915 births
1982 deaths
Inuit printmakers
Artists from Quebec
People from Nunavik
Artists from Kinngait
Women printmakers
Canadian Inuit artists
Canadian Inuit women artists
Inuit from Quebec
20th-century Canadian women artists
Canadian bird artists
20th-century Canadian printmakers
20th-century Inuit artists
20th-century Inuit women