LUCY QINNUAYUAK (1915-1982) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Untitled Drawing (Excited Owl), c. 1977-78
coloured pencil and grease pencil [?] on paper, 20.25 x 26 in (51.4 x 66 cm), framed
signed,"ᓗᓯ".

Provenance
Collection of John and Joyce Price, Seattle.

A vibrant addition to Qinnuayuak’s canon of bird imagery, Excited Owl is a work of contrasts. A close inspection of the colour shows that despite the initial appearance of two different hues, this owl is drawn with the same-coloured pencil. The body of this owl is soft, the light touch of the pencil giving an almost fuzzy feel to it; in contrast its extremities are sharp and bold in application and presence. Owls were a favourite motif throughout Qinnuayuak’s career; thus, many earlier works are immediately identifiable as being by her. Over time her owls and other birds began to appear more amorphous and more suggestive, their forms filling with pattern and lines. We see some of that in this marvellous drawing: the almost peanut-shaped body of Excited Owl is surrounded by a veritable explosion of lines.

References: See the section on the artist in Odette Leroux, ed, Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset, (Hull, QC: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994), pp. 71-91.