Name/Title
CompositionEntry/Object ID
2021.13.01Description
Janet Kigusiuq (1926-2005) was born in a camp in the Back River area of Nunavut’s Kivalliq region to celebrated graphic artist Jessie Oonark. Kigusiuq grew up living on the land and later moved with her family to a settlement at Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake) in the mid-1950s. During this time, Kigusiuq began illustrating activities in camp, like hunting and fishing, and supernatural forms from Inuit mythology and stories, using her earlier upbringing as inspiration for many of her drawings.
Kigusiuq worked with a variety of media during her career, including drawing, print, textiles, wall hangings, and, later in life, collage. Although her subject matter and themes stayed the same, her drawings transitioned from figurative representations into bright, bold and graphic artworks. As her artistic career developed, Kigusiuq added more colour and abstract elements to her creations, making her figures less distinct. In the last decade of her life, Kigusiuq began to create collages out of tissue paper, acrylic, and polymer that are reminiscent of her later drawing.
Composition (2001) depicts an area of a camp near a stream where fish have been strung up to dry on racks. Completed near the end of the artist's life, the work reflects her later style of rendering the landscape in abstracted, layered blocks of colour.Artwork Details
Medium
coloured pencil and graphite on paperDimensions
Height
57.15 cmWidth
76.2 cm