Here Ashoona shows a white polar bear battling its otherworldly counterpart, a yellow bear whose body is composed of large and small globes. In contrast to the richly detailed bear on the left, the one on the right is depicted with minimal detail apart from its stylized silhouette. While the polar bear is a popular subject in Inuit art, Ashoona inventively employs her signature motif of the globe to transform this traditional Inuit icon into a contemporary image that is unexpected, personal, and original.
Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds
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Shuvinai Ashoona, Untitled (two bears), 2010
Fineliner pen and coloured pencil on paper, 121.92 x 127 cm, Lazarus Barnes Collection. Photo credit: Toni Hafkenscheid.