KIAKSHUK (1886-1966) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
Singing Women Sew Kayak, 1960 #29
Printmaker: JOANASSIE SALAMONIE (1938-1998) or TIMOTHY OTTOCHIE (1904-1982), or IYOLA KINGWATSIAK (1933-2000) KINNGAIT (CAPE DORSET)
stonecut (linocut?), 25 x 13 in (63.5 x 33 cm)
29/50

ESTIMATE: $3,000 — $5,000

Provenance
Collection of John and Joyce Price, Seattle.

This print from 1960 beautifully captures Kiakshuk’s original hand drawn vision. Carefully printed in a striking black ink, Singing Women Sewing Kayak has a delicacy and clarity that comes through despite the monotone palette. The figures are beautifully rendered, balanced around the kayak they are working to cover, with more naturalistic definition than one is used to seeing in Kiakshuk’s early prints. The slightly skewed perspective, showing the women in profile and their tools and kayak from above, adds to the charm of the scene. We can easily imagine the women singing rhythmically as their needles sway over and pierce the skins.

Reference: For examples of original graphite drawings by Kiakshuk see Marion Jackson and Judith Nasby, Contemporary Inuit Drawings (Guelph: Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, 1987), cats. 16-17.