Name/Title
Moving with our campsites (traditional movers)Entry/Object ID
2023.06.01Artwork Details
Medium
colored pencil on paperContext
From Fort Gansevoort website:
https://www.fortgansevoort.com/exhibitions/shuvinai-ashoona/press-release?
"Measuring eight feet long, Moving with our campsites (traditional movers) (2023) depicts a scene of men, women, and children dressed in traditional animal skin Inuit clothing, rowing boats and carrying large packages through the Arctic landscape. The drawing's panoramic format suggests a cinematic style of storytelling, while its torqued and elevated perspective alludes to the omnipotence of a creator. Ashoona's composition appears to be one remembered or invented by the artist, rather than based on direct observation. The drawing manifests as a personal encyclopedia of everyday visual wonders and distinctive cultural references. For example, in a boat on the far-right edge of the drawing, a seated woman is seen from behind, carrying her child in the pouch on an amauti parka, a customary Inuit clothing design that allows a mother to move her baby from her back to her front for breastfeeding while protecting the child from the elements. Such imagery conveys the unique habitual experience of confronting the harsh elements of sea and ice. The overall composition of this monumental work resonates as a celebration of human endurance. And while Ashoona's imagery of nomadic existence conjures and celebrates an indigenous lifestyle that has endured for generations, she is conscious of the systems of modern correspondence, here signaled by her inclusion of the postal code signage on the blue sail. At its most literal, Ashoona's scene addresses visceral and temporal human interactions with the natural world. But in a less literal reading, this scene describes the phenomenon of transition - from danger to safety, and from past to present. Thus, Ashoona documents persisting traditional cultural practices while examining the nature of contemporary indigeneity. Her imagery invites contemplation of the relationships between Inuit peoples and their personal experiences of "homeland" - a term often difficult to define and filled with multiple meanings."Dimensions
Height
50-1/4 inWidth
96 inExhibition
New Acquisitions 2023