Iqalugasuatut

Description

Elisapee Ishulutaq is a celebrated printmaker and graphic artist from Kagiqtuqjuaq, NU who resides in Panniqtuuq (Pangnirtung), NU. After moving to Panniqtuuq, Ishulutaq began her artistic practice and quickly started selling her work. Since then she has continuously made work and was included in the first Pangnirtung Print Collection in 1973 as well as each subsequent year a print collection has been released. While Ishulutaq mostly works in print and drawings she also carves and has transformed many of her prints into tapestries.Ishulutaq’s work is driven by a narrative thread and often present an older way of life before settlements mixed with contemporary issues affecting Inuit. In her piece Climate Change (2012) Ishulutaq depicts a lone Inuk in a parka, an igloo and a tree on either side. The figure faces the tree, which has begun to bloom despite being rooted in a patch of icy ground [1]. Behind them is a melting igloo, which seems to slump towards the figure, the impact of the heat warping its shape into an uncomfortable bend. Ishulutaq’s piece shows the effect that climate change has on Inuit communities and their ability to practice traditional ways of living.In 2016 Ishulutaq made four large-scale oil stick drawings that focused on the issue of youth suicide in northern communities. The works were the central focus of the larger solo exhibition Remembering A Future, Too at Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver, BC. Over the four panels Ishulutaq remembers an event from 1996 in which a young boy took his own life a year after his older brother had. In the light of recent youth suicides Ishulutaq decided to break the silence and portray the tragedy in an effort to highlight the confluence of political issues that she feels contribute to the increase in suicide [2]. In particular the loss of connection to the land and cultural values as well as the lack of support provided to northern communities [3].Ishulutaq has exhibited her work around the world in institutions such as the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Inuit Galerie, Mannheim, Germany and Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy. In 2014 she was awarded the Order of Canada for her contributions to the cultural and economic health of her community. Ishulutaq and her work have appeared in multiple publications including many profiles in the Inuit Art Quarterly. She was featured on the cover of IAQ’s Spring/Summer 2010 issue.