Jessie Oonark (1906 -1985) was a pioneer and influential Canadian Inuit artist. Her family lived in Utkusiksalingmiut camps throughout the Nunavut region. They were semi-nomadic people who lived a traditional life dependant on fishing and caribou hunting. During the first fifty years of her life, Oonark learned how to process caribou and seal skins as well as how to sew clothing out of these materials. In the late 1950s, the annual caribou migration shifted away from the area where Oonark and her family lived, leaving many Inuit to starve and forcing them to move to Baker Lake. This is where she began making her first drawings and launched her artistic career. Inspired by her former hunter-nomadic life, Oonark created vibrant visual narratives focused on Inuit women and their activities. These colourful compositions included cultural objects of importance to the Utkusiksalingmiut as well as images based on storytelling, legends and shamanism. She’s in the first generation of Inuit artists working in printmaking and a major influence in the development of the graphic arts program at Baker Lake in the 1960s and 1970s. Jessie Oonark’s wall hangings, prints and drawings are in major collections including the National Gallery of Canada. She was also elected as a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1975 and was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984. Illustration: @_patriciamafra_ Photos: CCCA Canadian Art Database; Invaluable.com #herchive #archive #jessieoonark #oonark #womenartist #inuit #inuitart #pioneer #art #painting #textileart #bakerlake #femaleartist #shamanism #spiritual #canadianart #mystic #inuitdrawings #wallhanging #arthistory (em Baker Lake, Nunavut) https://www.instagram.com/p/B18o7uAoHuW/?igshid=1476w03r2sm0y
