Elisapee Ishulutaq facts for kids

Elisapee Ishulutaq CM (in Inuktitut: ᐃᓕᓴᐱ ᐃᓱᓗᑕᖅ, 1925 – December 9, 2018) was a talented Inuit artist. She taught herself how to draw and make prints.

Elisapee was a big part of how printmaking and tapestry making grew in Pangnirtung. She even helped start the Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts & Crafts. This center is very important for both the economy and culture in Pangnirtung. She was also a respected elder in her community. Her artwork has been shown in many famous places, like the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Canada.

Elisapee saw herself as a link between different generations. She used her art to share the wisdom and stories of her community's elders. In 2014, she received the Order of Canada. This award recognized her important work in helping her community's culture and economy. She was a great role model and mentor to others.

Early Life and Family

Elisapee Ishulutaq was born in 1925 in Kangirterjuak Camp, which was then in the Northwest Territories. In the 1930s, she lived a nomadic life with her family. They lived off the land near Cumberland Sound on Baffin Island. Her family included her mother Avurnirq, father Arnaqua, sister Malaya, and adopted brother Silassie Arnaquq.

We don't know much about her early childhood. However, living a hunting life on the land deeply inspired many of her later artworks. Elisapee Ishulutaq started her art career later in life. She began creating art after moving to Pangnirtung at the age of 45.

One of her oil stick drawings, Nunagah (2009), shows many members of her family. This includes her parents, siblings, husband Kanayuk, and first son Lasalucie. Another of her sons, Jaco Ishulutaq, became a well-known carver in Pangnirtung.

Art and Climate Change

Some of Elisapee Ishulutaq's artworks talk about climate change. An example is her work called Climate Change (2012). She shared her thoughts on how art can help with environmental issues: "When I was young the ice was not dangerous... now it's getting dangerous. Through art, artists can share that the ice is getting dangerous. Nowadays hunters don't really listen to elders for their knowledge or wisdom. Having some sort of visual aid like art would really put a clearer picture into what the elders are trying to say."

Ishulutaq also appeared in a film called Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change (2010). This film was made by Zacharias Kunuk and Ian Mauro. It was the first film in the Inuktitut language to discuss global warming. It looked at how traditional Inuit knowledge helps us understand environmental changes.

Becoming an Artist

Elisapee Ishulutaq mostly used oil sticks for her art after 2009. But she started drawing with colored pencils way back in 1960. When she was 45, she moved to Pangnirtung. There, she began creating drawings for the Pangnirtung print and tapestry workshops.

She contributed to these workshops for 40 years. This was as long as the arts and crafts industry had been in Pangnirtung. Elisapee was also one of the first artists to contribute to the Pangnirtung annual catalogue of prints. She was the last living artist who had contributed to that very first catalogue, published in 1973. For her drawings that were turned into prints, Ishulutaq often worked with artist Paul Machnik. He founded PM Studios in Montreal.

What Inspired Her Art

Many of her newer oil stick drawings are very large. For example, her work In His Memory (2016) is 30 meters long. Nunagah (2009) is 5 feet tall and 30 feet long. Her artworks often show scenes from her own life. This was different from other Inuit artists who often showed modern life. Ishulutaq's art often explored the challenges she faced while growing up.

Her art is known for using many different viewpoints in the same picture. She also focused on everyday life. Ishulutaq said that she first started making art to leave a legacy for future generations: "The main reason for making art being that the future generations could see my work... I would leave a footprint so to speak... to be able to share history through images."

Elisapee believed that art could help connect elders and younger people. She used pictures to pass on knowledge that might otherwise be forgotten. She also said that art was like therapy for her. It helped her deal with worries. Ishulutaq kept working at the Pangnirtung workshop until she passed away. She always tried new art styles and materials.

Her Early Works

Ishulutaq started contributing to the print workshop around 1970–1971. Her early print drawings often showed multiple viewpoints. They also featured large, single figures of people or birds floating on a plain background.

When the Tapestry Studio started in Pangnirtung in the early 1970s, Ishulutaq and Malaya Akulukjuk were the only illustrators. Ishulutaq's drawings were part of the first exhibition of Pangnirtung tapestries. This show, called In the Beginning, was held in 1972 in Montreal. Her drawing Woman was included, and it was woven into a tapestry by Oleepa Papatsie-Brown.

Recent Artworks

In 2009, Ishulutaq created Nunagah (My Home Place). This piece was part of the 2012 Canadian Biennial at the National Gallery of Canada. The Biennial was called "Builders." This name recognized how artists like Ishulutaq helped shape modern art and mentored other artists.

In 2014, Ishulutaq was asked to create a large painting for the Winnipeg Art Gallery. This painting was called Yesterday and Today. It showed scenes from her daily life. The curator, Darlene Coward Wight, praised Ishulutaq's work: "Her use of multiple perspectives, employing frontal, profile, and bird’s eye view in the same image is also characteristic. These unexpected shifts add interest and liveliness to her detailed scenes."

In 2016, Ishulutaq was asked to create another large painting called In His Memory. She worked on this piece with local school students and artists Paul Machnik and Maica Armata-Machnik. This mural was said to be Ishulutaq's "finale." At 91 years old, she said she would no longer create such large artworks.

In 2013, Ishulutaq also drew pictures for Vera Avic's Inuit children's story, Trip to the Moon.

Ishulutaq continued to provide drawings for the yearly Pangnirtung Print Collection. In 2010, the collection included two of her drawings. One showed a scene from Pangnirtung. The other was a street view of buildings in Vancouver. She drew this after a trip to British Columbia for an exhibition. The 2011 collection also featured her work, International Formation: Two Canadians, one American & one German Fly the Arctic.

Death

Elisapee Ishulutaq passed away on December 9, 2018. She was 93 years old and died at her home in Pangnirtung.

Awards and Recognition

Elisapee Ishulutaq was part of the Pangnirtung experimental graphic workshop from 1970–1971. In 1973, she won an award of merit at the California College of Arts and Crafts International Print Competition. She won for her print design called "Three Bears."

Her most important award came in 2013. She was made a member of the Order of Canada. This is one of the highest honors a Canadian can receive.

Exhibitions and Collections

Elisapee Ishulutaq's art has been shown in many places. It is also part of many important art collections.

Exhibitions

Her solo exhibitions included:

• Elisapee Ishulutaq: Remembering a Future, Too, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver (2016).
• Elisapee Ishulutaq: Yesterday and Today, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg (2015).
• Elisapee Ishulutaq: Prints from Pangnirtung, Marion Scott Gallery, Vancouver (2014).

She also participated in many group exhibitions, such as:

• Builders: Canadian Biennial 2012, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2012–2013).
• Pangnirtung Tapestries-40th Anniversary, Inuit Art Gallery of Vancouver (2010).
• Nuvisavik: "The Place Where We Weave", Inuit Tapestries from Arctic Canada, McCord Museum, Montreal (2006–2007).

Public Collections

Elisapee Ishulutaq's work can be found in many public art collections, including:

• Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto)
• Canadian Museum of History
• Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal
• Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Ontario College of Art and Design University Onsite Gallery
• Pangnirtung Print Collection
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg
• Woodstock Art Gallery Inuit Art Collection, Woodstock, Ontario