Kenojuak Ashevak OC, RCA

Biography

Kenojuak Ashevak was born in 1927 at a traditional camp named Ikirisaq, in the southern area of Baffin Island. In her younger years, she travelled as her ancestors had, among the hunting camps on Baffin Island and in Quebec's Arctic region. Today, she is one of Canada's best-known Inuit artists.

Together with other women in Inuit communities, Ashevak began drawing at the end of the 1950s. These drawings were made into prints which were sold through the local artists' co-operative. Ashevak's best-known artwork features birds in many colours, different shapes and positions. One of her most successful works from 1960 is entitled The Enchanted Owl; which was commemorated in a postage stamp to mark the centennial of the Northwest Territories in 1969. The National Film Board of Canada produced a film in 1961 about her life. She and her husband collaborated on a huge mural for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan.

Her works began to achieve even wider fame with special commissions that began in the late 1970s and early 1980s. A book entitled Graphic Arts of the Inuit: Kenojuak was published in 1981 about her life and artworks.

In 1990, the Indian Northern Affairs Canada commissioned her to create a commemorative artwork for the signing of the Inuit Land Claim Agreement-in-Principle. She obliged with a work called Nunavut Qajanatuk (Our Beautiful Land). Several years ago, Canada Post again selected The Enchanted Owl for a special 86-cent stamp.

Ashevak was named as a Companion of the Order of Canada and has received honorary Doctorates of Laws from both Queen's University and the University of Toronto. She has represented Canada many times at major art exhibitions in Korea, Europe, and North America.

In March 2008 Kenojuak was named one of eight winners of the 2008 Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts in recognition of her artistic achievement.