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NANCY PUKINGRNAK AUPALUKTUQ (AUPALUTUK; POOKERTNAK; POOKOOTNA;
PUKINGNAAQ; PUKINGRNAK; PUKINGNERK;
PUKINGNARK; PUKINGNAK; PUKINNAK)
Born: April, 1940 Female E2-390
Place of Birth: Back River
Resides: Baker Lake
Drawings, Prints, Crafts, Sculpture, Wallhangings
"Nancy Pukingrnak was born in the Chantrey Inlet area of the Keewatin
region of the Nortwest Territories. As a young child she led a traditional
nomadic existence at the inlet and along the banks of the Back River, living
in igloos in the winter and tents in the summer and susisting on a diet of
caribou and fish. She was brought to the nearby settlement of Baker Lake in
the spring of 1958 following a difficult winter marked by a severe shortage of
land foods in the Back River area. In a dramatic rescue by the Canadian armed
forces, a starving Pukingrnak and her mother, Jessie Oonark, were airlifted to
safety. Pukingrnak settled permanently in Baker Lake and married shortly
therafter. She has given birth to eleven children, seven of whom are still
living.
With encouragement from her mother, who went on to become one of Canada's
most successful artists, and her sister, Victoria Mamnguqsualuk--both
enthusiastically involved in the arts and crafts program initiated at Baker
Lake by the Federal government in the early 1960s--Pukingrnak started carving
in 1962 and did her first drawings in 1969. Pukingrnak's other siblings,
Josiah Nuilaalik, Janet Kigusiuq, Mary Yuusipik, Miriam Nanurluk, and William
Noah, also became established, successful artists in their own right.
Pukingrnak has forged an equally successful name for herself in the field
of Inuit art. She is best known for her drawings and sculpture but also works
in fabric. Her grandmother's stories of bygone days and Inuit mythology as
well as her own childhood memories serve as an endless source of inspiration.
Three recurrent themes dominate Pukingrnak's work--intimate domestic scenes of
life on the land, lively depictions of 'Qiviuq', the legendary Inuit hero, and
graphic portrayals of 'Qavaq', the mythological multi-headed creature with
clawed hands and feet and a tail who preys on human beings.
In her art making, Pukngrnak combines old skills with new ones. She is
intimately familiar with the traditional life of the Inuit and is herself a
meticulous sewer of caribou skin clothing. Yet exposure to books, magazines,
and television over the past thirty years has had a profound influence on her
view of the world. Pukingrnak's incorporation of Western conventions of
spatial perspective distinguishes her art from that of older Inuit artists who
draw without reference to space."
Marie Bouchard.
In "North American Women Artists
of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical
Dictionary' 1995.
EXHIBITIONS: 1974 Baker Lake Sculpture
Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
Montreal, Quebec
October 1975 - December 1977 Inuit Games/Inuit Pinguangit/Jeux des inuit
Department of Indian Affairs and
Northern Development
Ottawa, Ontario
(tour)
(illustrated brochure)
1978 Looking South
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
1978 Pukingrnak/Tookoome Drawings
Gallery Pascal
Toronto, Ontario
March - June 1978 The Coming and Going of the Shaman:
Eskimo Shamanism and Art
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)
August - Nov 1978 The Zazelenchuk Collection of Eskimo Art
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)
July 1979 - May 1980 Inuit Art in the 1970s
Department of Indian Affairs
and Northern Development, and the
Agnes Etherington Art Centre
Kingston, Ontario
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
March - April 1980 A Culture on Paper: Baker Lake Drawings
The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
Toronto, Ontario
April - May 1980 The Klamer Family Collection of Inuit
Art from the Art Gallery of Ontario
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario
(illustrated catalogue)
1982, 1984, 1986, 1987 Baker Lake Print Collection
(annual collection)
(illustrated catalogue)
January - February 1982 Baker Lake Drawings
The Upstairs Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Mar 1982 - Jan 1983 Inuit Myths, Legends and Songs
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
June - October 1982 Inuit Art from the Art Centre Collection
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
Guelph, Ontario
Dec 1982 - Jan 1983 Noel au Chateau - Art inuit de la
collection Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
Guelph, Ontario
presented at Chateau Dufresne
Montreal, Quebec
May 1983 - April 1985 Grasp Tight the Old Ways: Selections from
the Klamer Family Collection of Inuit Art
Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
June 1984 Demons and Spirits and those who
wrestled with them
The Arctic Circle
Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
September 1984 Drawings from Baker Lake
The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
Toronto, Ontario
(illustrated brochure)
January 1986 Six Women of Baker Lake
The Upstairs Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Oct 1986 - Feb 1987 Oonark's Family
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated brochure)
Dec 1987 - Mar 1989 Contemporary Inuit Drawings
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
Guelph, Ontario
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
June - September 1988 Building on Strengths: New Inuit Art
from the Collection
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
October 1988 Baker Lake: Persistence of Old Memories
Brandon Allied Arts Council
Brandon, Manitoba
(illustrated brochure)
October 1989 Baker Lake Print Retrospective:
A Twenty Year Anniversary
The Upstairs Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)
February - March 1990 Inuit Drawings
Inuit Gallery of Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)
January 1991 Sojourns to Nunavut: Contemporary Inuit Art
from Canada
at Bunkamura Art Gallery, presented by the
University of British Columbia Museum of
Anthropology and The McMichael Canadian Art
Collection
Tokyo, Japan
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
February - March 1991 Cape Dorset Sculpture
McMaster Art Gallery
Hamilton, Ontario
June - September 1991 Granville Island Canadian Inuit Sculpture
Exhibition (second exhibition)
Vancouver Inuit Art Society
Vancouver, British Columbia
Oct 1992 - Jan 1993 Drawings and Sculpture from Baker Lake
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated brochure)
Nov 1993 - Jan 1994 Contemporary Inuit Drawings
Muscarelle Museum of Art
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.A.
(illustrated catalogue)
Aug 1994 - Apr 1997 Qamanittuaq: Where the River Widens
Drawings by Baker Lake Artists
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre
Guelph, Ontario
(tour)
(illustrated catalogue)
March - July 1995 Immaginario Inuit
Arte e cultura degli esquimesi canadesi
Galleria d'Arte Moderna
e Contemporanea
Verona, Italy
(illustrated catalogue)
November 1995 Inspiration
Four Decades of Sculpture
Marion Scott Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
(illustrated catalogue)
February 1996 The Spirit World - 1977 to 1990: Baker Lake
Clyde River and Pangnirtung Prints.
A retrospective collection exhibited at
selected commercial galleries, organized by
Canadian Arctic Producers
Winnipeg, Manitoba
(illustrated catalogue)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS: January 1976 Nancy Pukingrnak: Baker Lake
Drawings and Sculptures
The Upstairs Gallery
Winnipeg, Manitoba
COLLECTIONS:
Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada, Michigan, U.S.A.
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
Klamer Family Collection, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, Ontario
McMaster University Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario
Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
HONOURS, ACHIEVEMENTS and EVENTS: 1978 Attended a printmakers' conference in Ottawa in January. 1989 Attended the opening of the exhibition 'Contemporary Inuit Drawings' held at
National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
SELECTED REFERENCES: Baele, Nancy
INUIT ART: A new show comes to the National Gallery. Ottawa
Citizen, January 13, 1989.
Blodgett, Jean
GRASP TIGHT THE OLD WAYS: Selections from the Klamer Family
Collection of Inuit Art. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1983.
Brandon Allied Arts Council
BAKER LAKE: Persistence of Old Memories. Brandon: Brandon
Allied Arts Council, 1988.
Canada. Indian and Northern Affairs
TRANSCRIPTS OF INTERVIEWS WITH JESSIE OONARK AND HER CHILDREN:
Interviews conducted by Marion E. Jackson with interpretation by
William Noah. Unpublished manuscript of background material for
a project sponsored by the Inuit Art Section, Indian and
Northern Affairs Canada, 1984.
Innuit Gallery of Eskimo Art
DRAWINGS FROM BAKER LAKE. Toronto: The Innuit Gallery of Eskimo
Art, 1984.
Jackson, Marion E.
CONTEMPORARY INUIT DRAWINGS. Guelph, Ontario: Macdonald Stewart
Art Centre, 1987.
Macduff, Alistair
LORDS OF THE STONE: An Anthology of Eskimo Sculpture. / By
Alistair Macduff. Photographs by George M. Galpin. North
Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 1982.
Marion Scott Gallery
INSPIRATION: FOUR DECADES OF SCULPTURE BY CANADIAN INUIT:
Curated by Norman Zepp. Vancouver: Marion Scott Gallery [1996].
Muscarelle Museum of Art (Williamsburg)
CONTEMPORARY INUIT DRAWINGS: The gift collection of Frederick
and Lucy S. Herman. Williamsburg, Va.: The College of William
and Mary in Virginia, 1993.
Sanavik Cooperative
SCULPTURE 1974. Baker Lake: Sanavik Cooperative, 1974.
Upstairs Gallery
BAKER LAKE SCULPTURE. Winnipeg: The Upstairs Gallery 1989.
Verona. Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
IMMAGINARIO INUIT: ARTE E CULTURA DEGLI ESQUIMESICANADESI.
Commune di Verona: Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di
Palazzo Forti, 1995.
Winnipeg Art Gallery
DRAWINGS AND SCULPTURE FROM BAKER LAKE. Winnipeg, Man.:
Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1992.
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