Jessie Oonark
Encyclopedia
Jessie Oonark, OC
(Inuktitut syllabics
: ᔨᐊᓯ ᐅᓈᖅ; 1906 - March 2, 1985) was a Canadian
Inuit
artist
who is best known for her wall hangings and her prints.
, near the Back River
in Nunavut
. She was married to another Inuit
at a young age, but in approximately 1953 was widowed with two of her eight children still dependent on her. During this period, the annual caribou
migration - on which the Caribou Inuit
in the Kivalliq Region depended - shifted away from the area where she lived, leaving many Inuit to starve. Unable to support her children through hunting under such harsh conditions, she moved to Baker Lake in 1958. There, she started drawing, inspired by her children's efforts at the mission school in Baker Lake. Her first prints were published in 1960.
Despite a late start - she was 54 years old when her work was first published - she was a very active and prolific artist over the next 19 years, creating a body of work that won considerable critical acclaim and made her one of Canada's best known Inuit artists. Her style is marked by her bold use of large areas of flat colour and the attention she paid to shapes rather than to line styles. Although her medium was wall hangings and prints, her technique drew largely on traditional styles used in Inuit sewing and clothing manufacture.
Following surgery in 1979, she lost much of her manual dexterity and produced only a few more pieces afterwards. Her career had lasted roughly 19 years, but its impact on Inuit art - and on the perception of Inuit art in the larger world - is considerable.
In 1975 she was elected a Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
and in 1984 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
. She died in 1985 in Churchill, Manitoba
and is buried in Baker Lake
.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(Inuktitut syllabics
Inuktitut syllabics
Inuktitut syllabics is a writing system used by the Inuit in Nunavut and in Nunavik, Quebec...
: ᔨᐊᓯ ᐅᓈᖅ; 1906 - March 2, 1985) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
who is best known for her wall hangings and her prints.
Biography
Oonark was born in a remote area roughly 150 km north of Baker LakeBaker Lake, Nunavut
Baker Lake , is a hamlet in the Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut on mainland Canada. Located inland from Hudson Bay, it is near the nation's geographical centre, and is notable for being the Canadian Arctic's sole inland community...
, near the Back River
Back River
The Back River , is a river in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada...
in Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
. She was married to another Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
at a young age, but in approximately 1953 was widowed with two of her eight children still dependent on her. During this period, the annual caribou
Barren-ground Caribou
Barren-ground Caribou is a subspecies of the caribou that is found mainly in the Canadian territories Nunavut and the Northwest Territories and western Greenland. It sometimes includes the similar porcupine caribou, in which case the barren-ground caribou also is found in Alaska...
migration - on which the Caribou Inuit
Caribou Inuit
Caribou Inuit, Barren-ground Caribou hunters, are bands of inland Inuit who lived west of Hudson Bay in northern Canada's Keewatin Region of the Northwest Territories, now the Kivalliq Region of present-day Nunavut between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W...
in the Kivalliq Region depended - shifted away from the area where she lived, leaving many Inuit to starve. Unable to support her children through hunting under such harsh conditions, she moved to Baker Lake in 1958. There, she started drawing, inspired by her children's efforts at the mission school in Baker Lake. Her first prints were published in 1960.
Despite a late start - she was 54 years old when her work was first published - she was a very active and prolific artist over the next 19 years, creating a body of work that won considerable critical acclaim and made her one of Canada's best known Inuit artists. Her style is marked by her bold use of large areas of flat colour and the attention she paid to shapes rather than to line styles. Although her medium was wall hangings and prints, her technique drew largely on traditional styles used in Inuit sewing and clothing manufacture.
Following surgery in 1979, she lost much of her manual dexterity and produced only a few more pieces afterwards. Her career had lasted roughly 19 years, but its impact on Inuit art - and on the perception of Inuit art in the larger world - is considerable.
In 1975 she was elected a Member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is a Canadian arts-related institution founded in 1880, under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada, Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, the Marquess of Lorne. Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was a member and president of the Academy...
and in 1984 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. She died in 1985 in Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" that has helped its growing tourism industry.-History:A variety of nomadic...
and is buried in Baker Lake
Baker Lake, Nunavut
Baker Lake , is a hamlet in the Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut on mainland Canada. Located inland from Hudson Bay, it is near the nation's geographical centre, and is notable for being the Canadian Arctic's sole inland community...
.