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An artist with something to say It's all in the details for Shuvinai Ashoona of Cape Dorset
Danielle Sachs
Northern News Services
Published Monday, July 8, 2013
KINNGAIT/CAPE DORSET
Cape Dorset artist Shuvinai Ashoona has an eye for detail.
A collection of prints and drawings recently made it's way to the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum where they will be on display until Sept. 2.
Shuvinai Ashoona examines her decorated Fender bass guitar. It's one of the few pieces that's purely for display and not for sale. - Danielle Sachs/NNSL photo |
Within days of the exhibit opening, red dots indicating a sale are already posted on more than half the pieces.
Most of the pieces are drawings with splashes of colour and intricate detail, revealing glimpses of everyday life.
On the opening day of the exhibit, Ashoona circulated among the viewers, posing for photos with some of the guests.
Ashoona began drawing in the early 1990s, focusing on everything from everyday snippets of life to elaborate line drawings of planets and landscapes.
She credits working at Kinngait Studios in Cape Dorset with encouraging her to keep going.
Ashoona couldn't say which was her favourite piece.
"I draw what I want to," she said.
Ashoona usually works at Kinngait Studios. There, her drawings are turned into etchings, prints and lithographs.
On top of the drawings and prints, Ashoona has also collaborated on large scale pieces and even decorated a Fender guitar. There's also a hand-knotted tapestry and photos of a large banner Ashoona completed with Amsterdam artist John Noestheden from The Netherlands.
Called Earth and Sky and on display at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa until September, the 15-metre (50-foot) long banner mixes images of the Arctic landscape with visions of outer space.
The banner was put together based on Ashoona's drawings. One of the visitors to the gallery has actually seen the banner in person.
"It's absolutely beautiful," said Sarah Hodgins, who was visiting from Ottawa for a week.
"Walking under it at the gallery is just ... well it's stunning."
The exhibit is called Takujaksait, or something to see, and is at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum for the rest of the summer.
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