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LUCY TASSEOR TUTSWEETOK (1934 - ) |
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Lucy Tasseor Tutsweetok was born in Nunalla, a region serving as a trading post on the west coast of the Hudson Bay, south of the Nunavut border. After her father’s death she moved in with her grandparents and often accompanied her grandfather on trips to trading posts, hauling supplies by dog team or canoe. Tasseor Tutsweetok would later name her grandfather as the greatest influence on her life and her work as an artist. Lucy Tasseor Tutsweetok married Richard Tutsweetok in Rankin Inlet and moved to Arviat where she began carving stone and caribou antler in the early 1960s. Her earliest works of art were carvings of arctic animals, a theme that was then replaced by images of mothers and children or family groups full of personal meaning. These remain the primary focus of her sculpture today. This shift of focus was largely due to childhood memories of her grandfather and the sand drawings the two would make to illustrate the stories he told. The artist’s sculptures are carved in a semi-abstract style in which the human figure is rarely defined. It is evident that Tutsweetok does not aim for precise depictions in her art but rather, seems to communicate through the properties of the material itself. The artist works stone sparingly, leaving large undulating surfaces uncarved, decorated with incised drawings. Her human subjects are most often suggested by faces as well as arms and legs that emerge from the stone and usually occur along the edges of the carving. Important to the works are several subtle variations in the positioning of heads and expression on faces, which provide clues to understanding the meaning of specific sculptures. Recently, by participating in an exhibition envisioned by art historian Ingo Hessel, Tutsweetok turned to the medium of drawing to express her personal vision. Tutsweetok maintains a distinct artistic voice within her own community as well as across North America where her work has been shown in many exhibitions. She is often referred to in literature about contemporary Inuit art and her work is found in the permanent collections of several important cultural institutions. Tutsweetok is currently living and working in Arviat, Nunavut. |
