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KENOJUAK ASHEVAK (1927 - ) |
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Kenojuak was born in a camp near Cape Dorset and still lives in the settlement with her extended family. She is undoubtedly the most acclaimed Inuit artist working today. Kenojuak has been involved in the success of the art program at Cape Dorset since its inception in the late 1950s. Her prints are regularly chosen for the annual release, and she has made thousands of original drawings during an artistic career that spans a half-century. "My work has changed quite a bit since I started," she notes. "At first, it was just in pencil; there was no colour." Her imagery revolves around birds, fish and female faces, always emphasizing motifs of nature and placing design above strict concerns for realism. Her steady hand traces a fluid line where positive and negative space interact. In addition to graphics, Kenojuak has worked as a sculptor over the years. "When I'm doing graphic work, sometimes I have to hold the paper and look at it and feel it, and then the work starts to come out," she explains. "It's easier to do the carvings because you can see the shape three dimensionally before it's formed. ... But I prefer to work on drawings; the stone can be hard, and you have to be outside carving." Kenojuak is the recipient of two honorary doctorates and is the subject of several books and a film. She is a Companion of the Order of Canada, recipient of a Lifetime Aboriginal Achievement Award, and has a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame. In 2004 Kenojuak became the first Inuit artist ever to create imagery for a stained glass window, in a commission for the Chapel of Appleby College in Oakville, coordinated by Feheley Fine Arts.
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