Shuvinai Ashoona facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shuvinai Ashoona
ᓱᕕᓂ ᐊᓱᓇ |
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| Born | August 1961 (age 63) |
| Known for | draughtperson, Graphic artist |
| Awards | Gershon Iskowitz Prize [2018] |
Shuvinai Ashoona RCA (Inuktitut: ᓱᕕᓂ ᐊᓱᓇ, born August 1961) is an Inuk artist. She is famous for her detailed drawings. She uses pens and pencils to show northern landscapes and modern Inuit life.
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About Shuvinai Ashoona
Shuvinai Ashoona was born in 1961. Her birthplace was Kinngait, which used to be called Cape Dorset. It is in Nunavut, Canada. She comes from a family of well-known artists.
Her father, Kiugak Ashoona, made sculptures. Her mother, Sorosilooto Ashoona, was a graphic artist. Her grandmother, Pitseolak Ashoona, was a very famous Inuit artist. Shuvinai is also related to her aunt, Napachie Pootoogook, and her cousin, Annie Pootoogook.
In 2012, Shuvinai was chosen to be part of an art show. It was called Oh, Canada. This show featured modern Canadian artists. It took place at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Shuvinai went to high school in Iqaluit. But she soon returned to the Kinngait area. She lived with her family in places like Luna Bay. This experience helped her create detailed drawings. Her art shows the Inuit homeland, called Inuit Nunangat.
The Ashoona family moved back to Kinngait in the late 1980s. Shuvinai started visiting Kinngait Studios. There, other artists influenced her style. These included her aunts, Napachie Pootoogook and Mayoreak Ashoona. Kenojuak Ashevak also inspired her.
Shuvinai's Art Style
Shuvinai Ashoona's drawings are sometimes based on nature. Other times, they come from her imagination. Her art often creates a full, detailed look on the paper. She often draws egg shapes. She also includes the kudlik, which is a stone oil lamp. The ulu, a traditional Inuit knife, also appears in her work.
Sometimes, her drawings show historical events. For example, she has drawn the Nascopie ship. This ship brought supplies to Cape Dorset. It sank in 1947. Shuvinai's art is special because it shows how modern and traditional life mix in Nunavut.
Her first drawings at Kinngait Studios are from around 1993. Kinngait Studios is a famous printmaking studio. It was started in 1959. Her early works were small and detailed. They were black and white landscape drawings. They often showed rocky areas from above.
These early drawings were very detailed. She used ink and black fineliner pens. These landscapes were partly real, showing places around Kinngait. But they were also partly fantasy. For example, she drew stairs that looked like land but led nowhere. Her landscapes were different from other Kinngait artists' work. They often showed no human activity. They also seemed to show her inner thoughts.
Because her drawing process was so careful, it took years to make enough art for a show. Two of her small etchings were in a 1997 print collection. Her first big art show was in 1999. It was called Three Women, Three Generations. It showed drawings by Pitseolak Ashoona, Napatchie Pootoogook, and Shuvinai Ashoona. This show was at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.
One of her works, Rock Landscape, was bought by the National Gallery of Canada. It was also featured on a CBC radio show in 2003.
Using Color and New Ideas
Shuvinai started using color in her drawings in the early 2000s. She began to draw people, their homes, and tools. These were placed within strong, detailed landscapes. An example is her work Composition (Sewage Truck) from 2007-2008. This piece is in the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Over time, her art showed more of her inner world. Eggs, card suits, globes, and bits of text appear often. She also worked with another artist, John Noestheden. Their joint work, Earth and Sky, is a huge banner. It was first shown at Art Basel in 2009. It was also shown at the 2012 Biennale of Sydney.
Later, she worked with artist Shary Boyle. They created the traveling exhibition Universal Cobra in 2015. They built fantasy worlds together. They shared space on the paper to create their art.
Around 2009, Shuvinai started drawing "worlds." She drew people, animals, and mixed creatures. They interacted with blue and green planets. These were set in amazing, imaginary places. This work was shown in her exhibition Shuvinai's World(s) in Toronto in 2012. She often shows her art at Feheley Fine Arts and Marion Scott Gallery.
Exhibitions and Recognition
Mapping Worlds was a big show of Shuvinai Ashoona's art. The Power Plant in Toronto organized it in 2019. This was her first major solo museum exhibition. Mapping Worlds continued to travel in 2020. It was shown at Concordia University in Montréal. It also went to the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Beyond Canada, another exhibition of her art was shown. It was called Holding on to Universes. It featured some of her less known works. It was shown in 2020 at the Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Arts in Scotland.
Shuvinai Ashoona is also featured in a short film. It is called Ghost Noise (2010). Marcia Connolly directed it. The musician Kevin Hearn dedicated a song to her. It is called "Midnight Sun". Shuvinai also painted a guitar for him.
In 2018, Shuvinai Ashoona won the Gershon Iskowitz Prize. This award is for artists who make great contributions to visual arts in Canada. In 2024, she received a Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts.
See also
In Spanish: Shuvinai Ashoona para niños
