Shuvinai Ashoona’s repositioning of Inuit art
ACI Art Talk highlights the artist’s remarkable trajectory
Sara Angel, founder and executive director of the Art Canada Institute, sits down with Nancy G. Campbell, author of Shuvinai Ashoona: Life & Work, to discuss the remarkable trajectory of Inuit artist Shuvinai Ashoona. Inuit art is seldom part of the contemporary art canon, but Shuvinai Ashoona’s work breaks this rule. Her work has been featured in exhibitions across Canada as well as internationally, including Switzerland and Australia.
The granddaughter of iconic Inuit artist Pitseolak Ashoona and the daughter of renowned sculptor Kiugak Ashoona, Shuvinai has challenged stereotypical notions of Inuit art through her depictions of fantastical creatures and dreamscapes expressed in vivid colour.
Watch What Makes Art Canadian? Nancy Campbell on Shuvinai Ashoona to discover how the artist’s work reflects dramatic changes in the North and overturns stereotypical notions of Inuit art.
Shuvinai Ashoona, Creatures, 2015, ink and coloured pencil on paper, 96.5 x 127 cm, collection of Suzanne Lamarre.