Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Baker Lake (June 12/02) - The work of Baker Lake artist Irene Avaalaaqiaq has long been admired for its depictions of Inuit myth, legend, culture and tradition.

Avaalaaqiaq's achievements - Producing art for more than three decades - Solo exhibits at Macdonald Stewart Art Gallery in Guelph, Ont., and Marion Scott Gallery in British Columbia - Work has been exhibited in Canada, the U.S. and Europe - First aboriginal Canadian to be awarded an honourary doctor of laws degree from the University of Guelph in March of 1999 - Addressed more than 850 arts graduates during the University of Guelph's final convocation on Oct. 19, 1999. Book to be released in October on her art and life <

It's no surprise when one considers how deeply myth has been intertwined with reality during Avaalaaqiaq's life.

Judy Nasby, the director of the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre at the University of Guelph in Ontario, has captured the world as seen through the artist's eyes in a new book, Irene Avaalaaqiaq: Myth and Reality.

Nasby has been building a major collection of Baker Lake drawings and wall hangings at the Macdonald Stewart Centre since 1980.

The centre has created a number of touring exhibitions, which have visited numerous locations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

The centre currently has an exhibit in Austria, which will be showing in Vienna this summer.

Nasby held a solo exhibition featuring Avaalaaqiaq's work at the Macdonald Stewart Centre in 1999.

At the same time, the University of Guelph awarded the Baker Lake artist with an honourary degree for the excellence of her work and her overall contributions to the development of Inuit art.

"The memoirs from my interview with her and my discussions of her artwork led to me writing Irene Avaalaaqiaq: Myth and Reality," says Nasby. "The book discusses both her life and her remarkable wall hangings and drawings."

The 140-page book is being published by McGill-Queen's University Press and will be launched in October 2002.

Myth and Reality will be fully illustrated with about 40 colour plates and 20 black-and-white photos depicting Avaalaaqiaq's work, her life and the community of Baker Lake.

Much of Avaalaaqiaq's art depicts traditional Inuit stories told by her grandmother, who raised her.

Nasby describes Avaalaaqiaq as a remarkable artist, extremely prolific at creating magical artwork. She says each Avaalaaqiaq piece conveys her unique vision of the world she inhabits.

"The power of the spirit imagery and transformation subjects stretches across cultural boundaries. Her pieces tend to deeply affect her viewers and admirers from the South, who are collecting her work and respect the great contributions she has made to Inuit art."