Ningeokuluk Teevee

“A couple of years ago I made Shaman Revealed, a drawing that was based on the Kiviuq legend of a woman turning into a fox. I wanted to show how people could change from one thing to another but still be the same person. A zipper came to mind and I thought, that’s a really nice idea, so I used the zipper to show how they change.”

quote from Uuturautiit: Cape Dorset Celebrates Fifty Years of Printmaking, 2009

Ningeokuluk is one of the most versatile and intelligent graphic artists to emerge from the Kinngait Studios. She is represented in the 2012 annual print collection with three images that further define her stylistic range and great sense of design and composition.

At first glance, Bird’s Eye View (2012-11) may appear to be an orderly pattern of indiscernible shapes. On closer inspection, a pod of beluga whales takes form, some diving, some swimming with their young, their light colouring contrasted with the dark seabirds circling above them. It is Ningeokuluk’s unusual perspective on this not so unusual Arctic phenomenon that captures the viewer’s interest and attention. In direct contrast, the close-up perspective of Aasiva (2012-12) captures a moment in time of berry-picking on the tundra, complete with a visual sight game to engage the viewer even further.

Born May 27, 1963, Ningeokuluk is the daughter of Joanasie Salomonie (deceased) and his wife Kanajuk. Her father, Joanasie, was a community leader and much loved in Cape Dorset for his sense of humour, mischief and compassion. In the fall of 2009, Ningeokuluk’s first children’s book was published by Groundwood Books (A Division of House of Anansi Press). Entitled Alego, it is an autobiographical story of a young girl named Alego who goes clamdigging with her grandmother for the first time and, along the way, discovers all of the wonders of the seashore. The book was short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for children’s illustration.

—Cape Dorset Print Collection, 2012