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KIGUSIUK (UQAYUITTUQ), Janet

Born
Kivalliq region, Nunavut, 1926
Died
Baker Lake, Nunavut, 2005
Biography synopsis
Kigusiuk (Kigusiuq, Keegooseot Kigusiuq, Keegoaseat Kigusiuq, Keegooseeot Kigusiuq) was the daughter of celebrated artist Jessie Oonark who encouraged her to draw as a young child. She was married to artist Mark Uqayuittuq. Kigusiuq moved to a settlement at Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake) in the mid-1950s, but it was her earlier life in the summer camps that served as a source for many of her drawings. In Baker Lake she began to work in printmaking. Her bright, bold and graphic work on paper typically depicts scenes of everyday life – hunting and fishing, and supernatural forms inspired by Inuit spirituality and stories. She also took printmaking courses at the Arctic College Fine Arts and Crafts diploma program where she also learned to work in collage. Kigusiuk was later recognized for her abstract geomorphic works focused on form and color. She was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy. Her works have been included in numerous exhibitions throughout Canada and the United States, as well as solo exhibitions including the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2019. A large number of Canadian galleries and museums including the National Gallery of Canada, American and International collections hold her works.
Media used
Collage
Drawing
Printmaking
Sculpture
Textiles
Education
Arctic College (under Kyra Vladykov Fisher)
Memberships
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
File & Archive locations
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
London Public Library, ON
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, QC - Media Centre
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
University of Calgary Library, AB
Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
Kigusiuq and Her Contemporaries Toronto: Feheley Fine Arts, 2007
"Janet Kigusiuq." Inuit Art Quarterly ?
http://www.inuitartfoundation.org/profiles/artist/Janet-Kigusiuq
Gillmor, Allison. ""Janet Kigusiuq: Recent Drawings at the Winnipeg Art Gallery." Inuit Art Quarterly 11.3 (1996): 43-46
Heller, Jules and Nancy. North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century New York: Garland, 1995
Lewis, Katie. “Janet Kigusiuq (1926-2005).” Inuit Art Quarterly 20.3 (Fall 2005):40-41
Sinclair, James. "Breaking New Ground: The Graphic Work of Shuvinai Ashoona, Janet Kigusiuq, Victoria Mamnguqsuuluk, and Annie Pootoogook". Inuit Art Quarterly 19.3/4 (Fall/Winter 2004): 58–61
Wqye, Cynthia. The Urge to Abstraction: the Graphic Art of Janet Kigusiuq Toronto: Museum of Inuit Art, 2008

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