Kiugak Ashoona was a Canadian Inuk artist renowned for his sculptural work and his expansive artistic portfolio.
14 Facts About Kiugak Ashoona
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Kiugak Ashoona experienced the longest career of any Cape Dorset artist, and is a member of the Order of Canada and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
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Kiugak Ashoona was one of the last generations to be born on the land and raised with the traditional lifestyle of the Inuit.
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In 1947, Kiugak Ashoona's first carving made from walrus tusk was traded to the Baffin Trading Company by his brother, Qaquq, for some large biscuits.
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Kiugak Ashoona's work focused primarily on scenes of Inuit life, such as hunting scenes, mothers and children, as well as creatures of myth or fantasy.
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In 1951, Kiugak Ashoona 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.
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Houston and Kiugak Ashoona worked together to expand carving in the community.
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Sometime in the 1950s, Kiugak Ashoona married Punisti in Igali, a community east of Cape Dorset.
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Kiugak Ashoona lived with her father Kiakshuk, a renowned angakkuq and artist.
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Kiugak Ashoona first began printmaking in 1962, using stone-cut engraving.
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From 1977 to 1981, Kiugak Ashoona 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.
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In 1980, Kiugak Ashoona created drawings using graphite and a combination of coloured pencil and felt-tip pen.
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Kiugak Ashoona's work has been featured in over 75 exhibits both within Canada and internationally.
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Kiugak Ashoona's work is held in several museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, the McCord Museum, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario and the British Museum.