Mialia Jaw

It has been a sad year for the Kinngait Studios with the passing of both Meelia Kelly and Mialia Jaw. Mialia passed away in April 2006, within days of Meelia.

—Cape Dorset Print Collection, 2006

Mialia was born August 10, 1934. A handsome woman in her early 70s, she too has come late to the stable of the Kinngait Studios. She is represented in the 2005 annual print collection by two images, both lithographs printed in bold, primary colours. The colours enhance her playful images, in which she is clearly enjoying inverting the natural order of things.

Mialia is an active woman who likes to spend time “on the land” at the traditional camping areas down the coast from Cape Dorset. Her husband Joe Jaw is deceased, but her sons Mathew, Pootoogook and Kingwatsiak are all carvers of some note. Mathew (known as Mathew Saviakjuk) is especially well-known for his powerful, stylized sculpture, and he is also Cape Dorset’s mayor—a position he has held for several years.

—Cape Dorset Print Collection, 2005