SHEOUAK PETAULASSIE (1918-1961) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
The Pot Spirits, 1960 #55
Printmaker: LUKTA QIATSUK (1928- 2004) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
stencil, 11 x 17 in (27.9 x 43.2 cm), framed, sight.
a "Govt B" proof [?] aside from the numbered edition of 50

Provenance
Private Collection, Santa Fe, NM.

Employing anthropomorphizing strategies that rival those of a Disney animation artist, in Pot Spirits, Sheouak presents us with a sprightly procession of human-cookware hybrid creatures. There is a delightful freedom of movement in these fantastical revelers who cavort in a range of dancing poses. At right, the square-shaped spirit raises its arms and seems to be swaying, perhaps trying to regain its balance. The feet of the remaining three figures point left as they promenade toward the margin of the sheet. Stenciled by Lukta Qiatsuk, the deeply saturated gem-toned inks cascade across the sheet, with red rising in a crescendo in the centre and gently petering to the left and right where it mingles and merges with a dark blue.

References: This print has been widely reproduced, including in the National Museum of Man international touring exhibition catalogue, The Inuit Print, (Ottawa: National Museum of Man, 1977) cat. 13; Leslie Boyd Ryan, Cape Dorset Prints: A Retrospective, (San Francisco: Pomegranate, 2007), p. 180 and back cover; and elsewhere.

It is interesting to note that, Rosemary Gilliat (later Eaton), a photojournalist who sojourned to the Canadian Arctic in the summer and fall of 1960, used Pot Spirits as the basis for staging for one of her photographs of the artist. On September 26, 1960, Gilliat wrote, “[W]ent with Barb [Barbara Hinds] to revisit Sheouak - the lady artist - author of the very delightful 'Pot Spirits' print. [...] I had done a rough drawing of the print & beside it one of Sheouak crouched over her pots to give her an idea of what I wanted. She grasped this very quickly, & [indistinct] started pouring water from one pot into the other - and back again - with immense verve” [1]. The picture that Gilliat would take shows the artist with a metal teapot in her right hand. One can reasonably speculate that this very same object served as the inspiration for the kettle figure in the lively parade of anthropomorphic cookware we see in Pot Spirits [2].

1. Library and Archives Canada, Rosemary Gilliat Eaton Fonds, R12438-0-0-E, box 3 file 5, 'Arctic Trip Diary.’ 26 September 19602. See Rosemary Gilliat (later Eaton), Sheouak Petaulassie pouring water from a kettle into a mug, Cape Dorset, Nunavut, (no date, probably 26 September 1960), Library and Archives Canada, Gilliat Eaton Fonds, R12438-2669-4-E. Volume/box number: 15., Item No. 4324346.