Jessie Oonark
Jessie
Oonark
Photo
credit: Sanavik Co-operative 1971
Jessie
with some of her grandchildren
Photo
credit: Sanavik Co-operative 1975
Photo credit: Sanavik Co-operative 1983
Picture
of Inuit with Jessie Oonark.L-R; Thomas Iksiraq, Luke
Anguhadluq,
Marion
Tuu'luq, Jessie Oonark, Phillipa Aningrniq, in front of
Anguhadluq's
tent at the Prince River.
Photo
credit: Sanavik Co-operative 1974
Jessie
Oonark was born in the Back River region of the Canadian
Central Arctic and had a very distinguished career as an
artist. Jessie led a traditional nomadic or semi-nomadic
existence until the late 1950s when the depletion of
caribou, which is a major food source for the Inuit, forced
her and her peers to move to the government-sponsored
settlement of Baker Lake, Nunavut. At age fifty-four she
started to produce works of art which provided for her and
her family. Jessie continued for another nineteen years,
being very prolific. She is best known for her wall hangings
and her prints. Her use of bold, flat areas of colour
distinguishes her individual style, which is thought to be
firmly grounded in traditional Inuit sewing techniques. As a
wife and mother, she sewed for her family. Her skills with
clothing manufacture were adapted to suit the fabrication of
wall hangings. Jessie Oonark is widely recognized as an
artist and has received many honors. She was elected as a
member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1975 and
named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984. The Jessie
Oonark Arts and Crafts Center in Baker Lake was named in her
honour.
Click on the
thumbnail images below to view the larger images. These limited
edition prints are in stock and available from our
gallery.
Men
Hunting Animals
Pipe
Dreams
The
Catch
Spirits
making a Wish
The
Shaman Teaches the Woman
Magic
Challenging
Wrestle