Where to See Alfred’s Work Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, ON NONAM (Nordamerika Native Museum) (formerly Indianer Museum), Zurich, Switzerland Spirit Wrestler Gallery, Vancouver, BC Yukon Permanent Art Collection, Whitehorse, YT Bibliography Spirit Wrestler Gallery. Fusion: Tradition and Discovery. Vancouver: Spirit Wrestler Publications, 1999. ———. Mini-Masterworks. Vancouver: Spirit Wrestler Publications, 2006. http://www.preferrededge.ca/EugeneAlfred.htm http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=217 Kenojuak Ashevak (b. 1927), Inuit Printmaker and Sculptor. In the year 1970, Canada issued a stamp for the centennial of the Northwest Territories, and the tiny figure adorning it took the public by storm. It was an elegant, long-feathered bird, whose riveting gaze could stop viewers in their tracks. The stamp’s Enchanted Owl came from a print by Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak—who was quickly thrust into the spotlight, making Inuit art an over- night sensation. Kenojuak (best known by her first name, as the Inuit did not use surnames till 1970) was born in Ikerrasak, Northwest Territories, where she lived the nomadic life of her ancestors. She moved with her family from camp to camp, according to the season and the migration of game animals. It was a hard- won existence in a beautiful but stark environment—where scarce resources and dangerous conditions reduced and reconfigured communities. At an early age, Kenojuak experienced the deaths of several close relatives, including her father, ‘‘a spirited and impulsive man,’’ who died after a quarrel with neighbors who judged him a ‘‘threat to the [camp]’’ (Blodgett 8). Soon after, her mother remarried, and Kenojuak went to live with her beloved grandmother, who taught her the Inuit art of sew- ing garments from sealskins. Despite pain and difficulty, the artist remembers her youth with great warmth. In later years the artist would recall, ‘‘My childhood adventures Kenojuak Ashevak 3 Kenojuak Ashevak. Enchanted Owl. 1960. Stonecut on paper (print). 24 in. Â 26 in. © Dorset Fine Arts/Kenojuak Ashevak. Photo courtesy of Dorset Fine Arts.
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