Kenojuak Ashevak

Artist

• Born: October 3, 1927
• Birthplace: Baffin Island, Northwest Territories, Canada
• Died: January 8, 2013
• Place of death: Cape Dorset, Dorset Island, Nunavut, Canada

Significance: Canadian aboriginal artist Kenojuak Ashevak, widely known as Kenojuak, acquainted the world with the distinct beauty of Inuit art. She began drawing and printmaking in the 1950s and over the next few decades produced some of Canada's most distinguished aboriginal art. Her work earned her global praise, and modern exhibits of her work continue to familiarize new generations with her art.

Background

Kenojuak Ashevak was born on October 3, 1927, in the Inuit camp known as Ikirasaqa on South Baffin Island in Canada's Northwest Territories. Her father, a fur trader and hunter, was murdered when Ashevak was six years old. She and her younger brother were then sent to live with her grandmother, who raised them among the traditions of the Inuit people. Her grandmother's Inuit group practiced seminomadic hunting and lived in igloos and animal hide tents. Ashevak spent nearly three decades leading this seminomadic life, traveling between many surrounding Inuit camps with her group. Her grandmother taught her a number of Inuit crafts when she was young, including sewing and embroidery.

She married an Inuit hunter named Johnniebo Ashevak when she was nineteen. The marriage was arranged by her family, and Ashevak disliked her new husband at first, although she later grew to love him. She and her husband eventually made a permanent settlement of Cape Dorset so their children could get a good education. In 1952, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and sent to Quebec City for treatment at Parc Savard Hospital. She was encouraged to participate in the facility's arts and crafts activities, which introduced her to doll making and beadwork. The hospital sold the finished crafts on behalf of its patients.

Ashevak remained at the hospital until 1955 before returning to the Cape Dorset area, where she continued to sell her creations. Back at home, Ashevak was introduced to writer and adventurer James A. Houston. Houston led a government-supported arts and crafts program aimed at encouraging Inuit people to create and sell art for income since the decline of the fur trade. Houston taught them printmaking techniques and endorsed their artwork all over the world. Ashevak began experimenting with colored pencils, watercolors, stone carving, and etching. She also designed prints for other carvers. She became the first female printmaker in Cape Dorset.

Life's Work

Ashevak's artwork quickly found an enthusiastic audience. She released her first print, Rabbit Eating Seaweed, in 1958. The print was included in the Cape Dorset Print Collection and Catalogue. Most of Ashevak's early prints featured birds and other animals. In 1960, she created The Enchanted Owl, one of her most enduring pieces. The image of an ornately feathered owl glaring at the viewer went on to become one of Canada's most famous pieces of art and was later used on a Canadian postage stamp commemorating the centennial of the Northwest Territories.

The artist's animal-centric theme infiltrated each of Ashevak's artistic mediums. From etching to carvings to murals, Ashevak was keen to incorporate intricate designs of her native wildlife. Her life and art were featured in a 1961 Academy Award–nominated documentary titled Kenojuak, by the National Film Board of Canada. The documentary introduced Ashevak's craft to a much wider audience. The 1960s marked the beginning of an evolution in Ashevak's art. Her early work was simplistic and direct with little room for interpretation. Over the next few decades, Ashevak took greater risks with her subject matter and made her designs more complex and stylized.

Ashevak's works were highly sought after during her lifetime. She was commissioned to design artwork for a number of projects following the exposure she received from Kenojuak. She was also named a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1967. Ashevak traveled the world educating people about Inuit art, visiting places such as Germany; the Netherlands; South Korea; Seattle, Washington; and Ottawa, Canada. She and her husband collaborated on a mural that was hung at the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, Japan.

By the 1980s, Ashevak's designs had taken on a surreal tone, blending reality with fantasy. Her 1988 colored-pencil drawingDog Caribou Spirit with Birds depicts a caribou with a human head and bird feet. A separate bird and plant life emerge from its body. That same year, she issued Dog Mother Shaman Transformation—a drawing of a barking dog with a human face and a spiked dragon sprouting from its eyes and stomach. The shift garnered her further praise. Ashevak's achievements earned her multiple honors throughout her later life, including honorary degrees from Queen's University and the University of Toronto and the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. In 2001, the artist was added to Canada's Walk of Fame, becoming the first Inuit artist to attain the distinction. She later added the Governor General's Award for excellence in the visual arts to her list of awards in 2008. After more than fifty years of making Inuit art, Ashevak died from complications arising from lung cancer on January 8, 2013, at her home in Cape Dorset.

Impact

Ashevak's prints, drawings, and paintings helped introduce the world to Inuit art. Her images are some of the most recognizable pieces of Canadian art in the country's history. Ashevak took Intuit art to new heights throughout her career, garnering her numerous awards and honors. Her artwork continues to be displayed in museums around the world.

Personal Life

Ashevak raised sixteen children with her first husband, Johnniebo Ashevak, five of which were adopted. Following Johnniebo's death in 1972, she remarried twice, first to Itigajuaqujaku Pii and then Joanasie Igiju. Ashevak outlived both men.

Principal Works: Prints

• Rabbit Eating Seaweed, 1958
• The Enchanted Owl, 1960
• Hare Spirits, 1960
• Dog Caribou Spirit with Birds, 1988
• Dog Mother Shaman Transformation, 1988
• Guardian Owl, 1997
• Luminous Char, 2008
• Six-Part Harmony, 2011
• Fine Feathers, 2013

Bibliography

Austen, Ian. "Kenojuak Ashevak, Artist from the Canadian Arctic, Dies at 85." New York Times, 12 Jan. 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/arts/kenojuak-ashevak-inuit-artist-dies-at-85.html. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

Blodgett, Jean. "Kenojuak Ashevak." Canadian Encyclopedia, 27 Jan. 2013, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/kenojuak-ashevak/#. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

"Kenojuak Ashevak " Canadian Art Database,www.ccca.ca/artists/image‗timeline.html?languagePref=en&link‗id=2010&artist=Kenojuak+Ashevak. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

"Kenojuak Ashevak." Dorset Fine Arts, www.dorsetfinearts.com/kenojuak-askhevak/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2017.

Sonneborn, Liz. A to Z of American Indian Women. Facts on File, 2008.