Caribou Spirit

Description

Ningeokuluk is steadily emerging as a versatile and intelligent graphic artist. She is becoming more prolific as her experience and confidence grow, and is comfortable with both traditional and more contemporary themes and approaches. This year, she is represented in the annual print collection with twelve images. Her work is so diverse that it is represented well in all media, with the graphic simplicity of stonecut handling her lovely wildlife drawings, lithography for the more complex colour combinations and this year, a new serigraph editioned at Atelier GF in Toronto.The influence of the past is tangible in Ningeokuluk’s work. Inspired by stories and legends told by Mialia Jaw to schoolchildren in Cape Dorset, Ningeokuluk is one of a new generation of Inuit artists who are bringing the tales back to life in graphic form. Lumaaq (Legend of the Blind Boy) (2009-16) is a well known Inuit myth in which a blind boy, abused by his mother and family, is given sight by a loon, who takes him down under the water, almost to the point of drowning but asks him to trust that the experience will provide him with strength and sight to return to his unfortunate situation and prevail.Born May 27, 1963, Ningeokuluk is the daughter of Joanasie Salomonie (deceased) and his wife Kanajuk. Her father, Joanasie, was a community leader and much loved in Cape Dorset for his sense of humour, mischief and compassion. Ningeokuluk now devotes her full time to her family and to her drawing, which she does at home. In the fall of 2009, her first children’s book will be published by Groundwood Books (A Division of House of Anansi Press). Entitled “Alego”, it is an autobiographical story of a young girl named Alego who goes clamdigging with her grandmother for the first time and, along the way, discovers all of the wonders of the seashore.